Government Offer Amess Family 'glimmer Of Hope'

Danny Fullbrook

BBC News, Essex

Getty Images Sir David Amess, smiling, wearing a navy suit and olive green tie in front of wooden panels. — Sir David Amess died after he was stabbed more than 20 times

The daughter of MP Sir David Amess said she still felt “betrayed” there would be no inquiry into his death, but that the prime minister had offered a “glimmer of hope” the government would reconsider.

Katie Amess visited Downing Street where Sir Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper discussed plans for a review into Prevent, the government programme aimed at stopping people becoming terrorists.

The 39-year-old said it was “very disappointing” to not have an inquiry but hoped the review could lead to some answers.

Sir David, the Conservative MP for Southend West, was stabbed to death by Ali Harbi Ali, a fanatic of so-called Islamic State, at a constituency surgery on 15 October 2021.

Ms Amess visited Downing Street with Sir David’s successor, former MP Anna Firth.

Katie Amess said she still felt betrayed by the government but there was a “glimmer of hope”

PA Media Katie Amess is dressed in a black coat and has long blonde hair. She is looking sadly at the ground outside Downing Street. — Katie Amess said she still felt betrayed by the government but there was a “glimmer of hope”

Sir David’s family had called on the prime minister to consider including his murder in the public inquiry into the Southport killings, but this was rejected.

Ali had been referred to Prevent seven years before he fatally stabbed Sir David 20 times at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.

The family argued the service could have done more to stop the killing.

Ali was sentenced to a whole-life order at the Old Bailey in 2022, having been found guilty of murder and preparing acts of terrorism.

In a letter to the family, the home secretary said it was “hard to see how an inquiry would be able to go beyond” Ali’s trial and the recently published Prevent learning review.

Katie Amess told a press conference on Monday that she felt betrayed by the home secretary

Katie Amess Sir David and Katie Amess standing on a grass lawn. Sir David is wearing a suit and Katie is wearing a sleeveless lilac dress. They are both smiling. — Katie Amess told a press conference on Monday that she felt betrayed by the home secretary

Speaking outside Downing Street, Ms Amess said the prime minister could not answer as to why an inquiry could not be launched.

She said: “He just said my case was different from Southport but couldn’t tell me how.

“It just prolongs the heartbreak we’re going through. Obviously the best-case scenario would have been a full public inquiry.

“I guess we have to cling to that 1% hope that we can get the answers through a different means and if we don’t get those answers, maybe then they’ll reconsider.”

The Conservative MP was killed at a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea

PA Media Armed police officers outside the Belfairs Methodist Church in Eastwood Road North, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. — The Conservative MP was killed at a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea

Earlier this week, Ms Amess said the home secretary’s decision not to launch a public inquiry into his murder felt like a “betrayal”.

After the meeting with Cooper and Sir Keir, she told reporters the prime minster said she could return if the review did not provide the answers she was looking for.

“I still feel the same but maybe the slight glimmer of hope will come true,” she added.

The family said they would participate in the reviews alongside their legal team.

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