Home Secretary Yvette Cooper informed the family that there would be no probe into the 2021 murder of Southend West MP Sir David Amess by terrorist killer Ali Harbi Ali in 2021
The daughter of murdered MP Sir David Amess has accused the Government of “betrayal” after it rejected calls for a public inquiry into his death.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper informed the family that there would be no probe into the 2021 murder of the Southend West MP by terrorist killer Ali Harbi Ali. In the letter, Ms Cooper said it was “hard to see how an inquiry would be able to go beyond” Ali’s trial and a recently published Prevent learning review.
An independent external reviewer had been appointed to look over all the findings, including evidence from the trial, the Prevent review and the coroner’s report.
But his daughter Katie Amess tearfully described the response as “adding salt onto an open wound” and said she felt “sadness, betrayal, pain and just heartbreak” on reading the letter.
Sir David was stabbed 21 times by Ali, an Islamic State fanatic, in a horrifying attack at a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on October 15 2021. Ali – who was given a whole-life sentence in 2022 aged 28 – was referred to Prevent, and the specialist Channel anti-extremism programme seven years before he killed the veteran Conservative MP.
A report last month found crucial chances to stop the killer were missed, as he was assessed as a “low” terrorism risk in April 2015, and the case was closed the following year.
At an emotional press conference, Ms Amess said: “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? Is his life worth less than others?
“Does our family not deserve the truth like other families and to know that what happened will never happen again?” She accused the Home Secretary of having “strung us along for months”.
Sir David’s widow, Lady Amess, called on the Prime Minister to reconsider ahead of a meeting with the family this week. She said: “Despite our repeated calls, we have been denied the one thing that can provide real answers – a full public inquiry.
“To pour salt on the wound, Yvette Cooper has now written us a totally unacceptable and, quite frankly, insulting letter confirming that the Government will not order an inquiry, and that all the investigations to date should satisfy us. Well, I can tell her they most certainly do not.”
Security minister Dan Jarvis said: “In the years since this cowardly attack there have been several reviews asking how this could have been avoided, and we have seen significant improvements to the Prevent programme as well as stronger protections for MPs. We understand that the Amess family are still looking for answers and we take this incredibly seriously.
“While we do not think a public inquiry would unearth any information that has not already been assessed, the Home Secretary has confirmed that we will further scrutinise all the reviews that have taken place over the last few years. We very much hope this will help the family to get the justice they deserve.”
Downing Street said there had been improvements to Prevent since Sir David Amess’s killer was referred to the programme. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Sir David Amess’s murder was an awful tragedy. Our thoughts continue to be with his family and friends.”
