Murdered MP’s family to meet Home Secretary to push for ‘answers’

The widow and daughter of murdered MP Sir David Amess are set to meet with the Home Secretary to push for “answers” over missed opportunities in the lead-up to his death.

Lady Julia Amess and Katie Amess are set for talks with Shabana Mahmood on Wednesday, with Sir David’s daughter describing the meeting as one about “accountability, transparency, and learning lessons properly”.

Katie Amess has made repeated calls for a public inquiry into her father’s murder, saying it is the only way to achieve “real accountability”.

Former home secretary Yvette Cooper previously wrote to Sir David’s family to reject their calls for an inquiry, which Lady Amess and Katie branded “totally unacceptable” and “insulting”.

Sir David was stabbed to death at his constituency surgery in Essex in 2021 by so-called Islamic State fanatic Ali Harbi Ali, who was sentenced to a whole-life order for the murder the following year.

Ali had been referred to Prevent seven years before he killed the veteran MP, but his case was closed in 2016.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Katie said in a statement: “Tomorrow I will be meeting the Home Secretary to discuss the circumstances surrounding the murder of my father, Sir David Amess.

“I am looking forward to this meeting and to engaging constructively with the Government.

“My family’s focus has always been very simple: we want clear, honest answers about what happened, why the system failed, and whether my father’s murder could and should have been prevented.

“Sir David was a devoted public servant who believed deeply in democracy and in the responsibility of the state to protect those who serve it.

“The failures that led to his death were not abstract or theoretical, they were real, and they had devastating consequences for our family.”

She continued: “This meeting is about accountability, transparency, and learning lessons properly.

“It is about ensuring that no other family has to endure what we have endured because warnings were missed, risks were underestimated, or opportunities to intervene were not taken.

“We remain committed to working with the Government to get the answers we need and deserve.

“But we are equally clear that this process must be rigorous, independent, and capable of addressing the very obvious failures that occurred.

“Anything less would fall short of justice for my father and for the public he served so faithfully.”