Keep them safe but do not give in to the hate-mongers
THE savage murder of Sir David Amess at one of his regular constituency surgeries has cast a dark shadow over our country.
There is a tragic contrast between the gentle, compassionate life of this dedicated public servant and the blood-soaked, frenzied nature of his demise at the hands of a knifewielding assailant, who is now being treated by the police as a terror suspect with possible links to Islamist extremism.
Sir David’s assassination was not just a brutal attack on a much-loved family man, a devout Catholic and veteran MP who was the epitome of decency.
It was also a direct assault on our parliamentary democracy, as the killer ruthlessly exploited the fine British tradition of open accessibility and engagement by our elected representatives.
The sense of outrage at this atrocity right across the political spectrum was encapsulated by the images yesterday of the two major party leaders Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer laying flowers at the scene of the killing, accompanied by the Home Secretary Priti Patel and the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
This poignant display of crossparty solidarity was reminiscent of similar scenes of political unity that followed the murder of Labour MP for Batley Jo Cox in 2016, when David Cameron stood shoulder-toshoulder with Jeremy Corbyn.
But the very fact that over the past five years, two MPS have been brought down in the course of their constituency duties shows how poisonous our political culture has become.
Civility has given way to hatred. Reasoned moderation has been replaced by toxic hostility.
Yesterday, the former office
manager to senior Labour MP Yvette Cooper told the BBC that, incredibly, she had to deal with around 100 death threats a week.
Physical fear should not be part of a politician’s life.
To improve safety, a number of steps are obvious. One is to intensify the fight against terrorism and extremism.
That means tighter border controls, less wishful thinking about de-radicalisation programmes and an end to the fashionable obsession with a twisted version of human rights, which actually leaves us all vulnerable to enemies within.
In addition, security for MPS must be strengthened.
Priti Patel yesterday ordered
police forces to contact all 650 MPS to review their protection but this could be taken further, perhaps, as Harriet Harman has suggested, by establishing a Speaker’s Conference to look at enhanced safeguards such as CCTV and more rigorous checks on people making contact.
But in the process we must not lock up our democracy. Politics cannot happen behind closed doors at either Westminster or in constituencies.
Giving in to the hate-mongers would be the worst possible legacy of Sir David’s death.
As Sir Lindsay Hoyle told the BBC: “These people do not share our values or our democracy. We will not let them win.”