A dark day in politics that should alarm us all

Tracey Crouch, the sports minister, summed it up when she said she could write reams on how Sir David Amess was one of the kindest, most compassionate, well liked colleagues in Parliament but simply felt too sick and lost for words yesterday.

The death of the MP for Southend West has once again cast a dark shadow over Westminster, as colleagues from all sides of the House come to terms with yet another attack on one of their own.

The alarming regularity with which our elected representatives face harm – not just physically but online – should be cause for concern for us all.

In 2019, following the attempted murder of Rosie Cooper, the Labour MP for West Lancashire by a neo-nazi trying to “replicate” the 2016 murder of her colleague Jo Cox, the BBC carried out a survey of MPS to find out how safe they felt. The responses revealed a deeply worrying trend of politicians living in fear for their lives.

More than 60 per cent of the 172 MPS who responded to the survey had been in contact with police over threats they had received in the previous six months. Almost all of their staff had faced abuse.

The SNP MP Dr Lisa Cameron said she had put in place extra security so her children could play safely in her garden. Conservative MP Scott Mann said someone threatened to nail bomb his office.

Some MPS had told the authorities they would not run for office again because of safety fears.

We simply cannot go on like this. And it certainly doesn’t help the reputation of MPS to have people such as the deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner using the word “scum” to describe her parliamentary opponents.

The vast majority of MPS, like Sir David, are good people who run for office to help the public. A light went out in Parliament last night. May he rest in peace.