British Member of Parliament David Amess was stabbed to death while meeting with his voters at a church in his Essex constituency. Police say that around noon London Time, a man approached Amess while he was taking questions from voters. He was stabbed numerous times and died at the scene.
The suspect remains unidentified.
Amess was a member of Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party and was closely identified with the Brexit movement. He had been a member of parliament since 1983.
He was a devout Catholic and was a major pro-life member of parliament. He was a champion of animal welfare law reforms.
Another issue he was known for early in his political career was his lobbying for a statue of the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.
Amess campaigned for many years to have a statue erected in honour of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary, an endeavour for which Wallenberg eventually lost his life. Amess began asking Parliamentary Questions in the late 1980s[24] regarding Wallenberg, campaigning for him to be awarded honorary British Nationality. Amess had previously attempted to push through a Raoul Wallenberg (Memorial) Bill in the 1989–90 session.[25] and he held an Adjournment Debate in Wallenberg’s honour in 1996.[26] A memorial designed by sculptor Philip Jackson was installed in London, at Great Cumberland Place, outside the Western Marble Arch Synagogue. The statue was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997.
It’s unknown if the issue had anything to do with the attack that killed him.
Amess is the second British MP to be assassinated in recent years. In 2016, Labor Party MP Jo Cox was killed outside of a library in her constituency where she was about to hold a meeting.
Great God. This is an utterly horrific update. It’s quite clear to me that MPs are going to need security – what horrible times we live in. https://t.co/noqw8vllSj
— Darren Grimes 🇬🇧 (@darrengrimes_) October 15, 2021
Tributes to Amess, the man and the politician, began pouring in. A local priest says Amess was “one of the greatest guys” he’s ever worked with.
Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle said: “This is an incident that will send shockwaves across the parliamentary community and the whole country.”
He said he was shocked and deeply distressed by the killing of a “lovely man”, and said in the coming days they would need to examine MPs’ security.
Labour London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was “deeply, deeply saddened” and described Sir David as “a great public servant”.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said it was “a truly terrible day for British politics but most importantly of all our prayers are with all the people who loved David”.
Labor Party leader Keir Starmer said the news was “horrific” and “shocking.”
Horrific and deeply shocking news. Thinking of David, his family and his staff.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) October 15, 2021
David Amess was knighted in 2015 but apparently, it didn’t take it very seriously.
In 2015 David Amess was awarded a knighthood for political and public service. How did the newly-knighted Sir David celebrate?
He got dressed up and released this brilliant photo https://t.co/jfeFRxAbCh pic.twitter.com/7GtWr02xKi
— Calgie (@christiancalgie) October 15, 2021
By all reports, Amess was a good and decent man, a loving husband and father, and a man who cared about others.
Not a bad example for politicians in any country to emulate.
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