LONDON - The Home Secretary has rejected calls from the family of Sir David Amess MP for a public inquiry into his murder.
In a letter addressed to Sir David’s widow Lady (Julia) Amess and his daughter Katie Amess, Yvette Cooper said it was "hard to see how an inquiry would be able to go beyond" killer Ali Harbi Ali's trial and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3jk229vkgo"><strong>recently published Prevent learning review</strong></a>.
Sir David, the Conservative MP for Southend West and a Catholic father of five, was stabbed to death by Ali, a fanatical adherent of the so-called Islamic State, at a constituency surgery on 15 October 2021. Ali <a title="" href="https://thecatholicherald.com/sir-david-amess-killer-convicted-of-murder/"><strong>was sentenced </strong></a>to a whole-life order in 2022.
Ali was referred to Prevent in 2014, seven years before he fatally stabbed Sir David 20 times during a constituency surgery at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea, but his case<strong> <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/27/prevent-left-sir-david-amesss-murderer-free-admin-error/">was closed after two years</a></strong><a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/27/prevent-left-sir-david-amesss-murderer-free-admin-error/">.</a>
Lady Amess said Sir Keir Starmer should "go away and reconsider the government's position" ahead of the family's meeting with the prime minister and the home secretary on Wednesday.
Katie Amess said Ms Cooper's words were "adding salt on to an open wound", branding them "unacceptable" and “insulting”.
"How can the government justify holding inquiries for other tragic events like Southport and Nottingham and yet refuse to investigate the very system that failed my father?”
Sir David's family called on the Prime Minister to consider including his murder in the public inquiry into the Southport killings.
Katie Amess accused the Home Secretary of having "strung us along for months".
The 39-year-old said she would speak with Ms Cooper and the Prime Minister "on a human basis" during their meeting on Wednesday.
She added: "I'm just going to plead my case and pray to God they'll have a change of heart and realise that my dad was a human being.
"He isn't just a political figure in a game of chess, he's a human being."
Downing Street said there had been improvements to Prevent in the years since Sir David's killer was referred to the programme.
Asked about the decision not to hold a public inquiry into the Southend murder, the prime minister's spokesman said: "Sir David Amess's murder was an awful tragedy. Our thoughts continue to be with his family and friends.
"In the years since this cowardly attack, we have launched a series of investigations asking whether this could have been prevented.
"Significant improvements have been made to Prevent, as well as stronger protections introduced for MPs.”
In her letter, Ms Cooper said a coroner had already "looked carefully" at whether to resume an inquest into Sir David's death following the criminal trial.
She wrote: "[But] they concluded there were no additional questions that could be answered through an investigation of this kind, that had not already been considered as part of the trial.
"In the circumstances it is therefore hard to see how an inquiry would be able to go beyond what has been reviewed in the trial, Prevent learning review, coroner's report, as well as Lord Anderson and Essex Police's forthcoming conclusions.
"On that basis, the government cannot establish a public inquiry."
The Home Secretary told the Amess family she had decided to "appoint an independent external reviewer to look across the findings of the investigative work and scrutiny already completed or under way".
She continued: "I realise this is not the answer you were looking for. I remain keen to discuss this with you in the forthcoming meeting with the Prime Minister."
At the time of the murder of Sir David, a devout Catholic, police turned away a Catholic priest who tried to administer the last rites to the MP on the grounds that his body was part of a crime scene.
Fr Jeffrey Woolnough, of St Peter’s Catholic Church, Eastwood, in Leigh-on-Sea, said that he rushed to Belfairs Methodist Church after he heard that Sir David had been attacked.
A police officer outside the church reportedly relayed his request to enter the building, but the priest was not permitted to enter. He prayed the rosary outside the police cordon instead.
This led to the proposal of the “Amess Amendment” to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill that would ensure priests are able to gain access to crime scenes in order to administer the last rites.
Offering a tribute to his late colleague in the House of Commons on October 18 2021, the Labour MP Mike Kane, also a Catholic, suggested that MPs pass an amendment guaranteeing priests access to those requiring last rites.
“[David Amess] participated fully in the liturgy of the Church. He participated fully in the sacraments of the Church,” said Mr Kane.
“While I have the attention of those on the Front Benches [government ministers], Catholics believe that extreme unction helps guide the soul to God after death, so maybe we could come up with an Amess Amendment so that no matter where it is, in a care home or at a crime scene, Members, or anybody, can receive that sacrament.”
A statue of Sir David Amess <strong><a title="" href="https://thecatholicherald.com/murdered-catholic-mp-sir-david-amess-honoured-with-seafront-statue/">was unveiled</a> </strong>in April last year in his former constituency town of Southend in the presence of his family, friends, constituents and MPs, including Priti Patel and former MP and fellow Catholic Ann Widdecombe, who gave the eulogy at his funeral in Westminster Cathedral. It was blessed by Fr Woolnough.
