18th October 2021: A Week in Parliament
/Sir David Amess
It was shocking to hear of the murder of Sir David Amess – stabbed to death while holding a constituent advice surgery. As is the way, all the obituaries say he was a really nice person and dedicated MP. But that was the truth of Sir David. Not someone I could class as a friend, but someone I would always talk to in the passing, and someone who always had a calm demeanour. When he chaired bill committees or Westminster Hall debates, he also showed his sense of humour and ability to get on with MPs of all parties. He was willing to campaign on issues and practically led a lone fight within Tory MPs being against foxhunting. It is testament to his campaigning that so many Tory MPs came round to his (or mainstream views). I hope he rests in peace and condolences to his family. Also, for his staff members who had to witness the attacks.
Parliamentary Safety
In my short time as an MP, that is now two colleagues who have been murdered doing their job, and PC Keith Palmer killed in a terrorist attack on Westminster. The attacks have also been a mix of Islamist terrorists and right-wing terrorists so there is no correlation – other than people becoming radicalised on the internet that is. Additionally, while people may use the internet to obtain the information that reinforces their radicalisation, when they act alone how can we truly protect ourselves? As an MP I need to be accessible to the public. I need to be able to go to public events. In the aftermath of the Sir David Amess murder, there is talk of reviewing MP security. Clearly this needs to be thought about. However, what is the ultimate solution? It is not practical to have security accompany all MPs wherever they go. The cost would be extortionate and I for one would not want police to be at my surgery while they could be protecting the wider public.
Other security advice is that we always have a table between ourselves and a constituent. I do this in my office, and it may buy you precious seconds, but is a 1m gap across a table going to stop a pre meditated terrorist attack. Other advice is having staff members with you. I sometimes do this, but when thinking of attacks, it makes me really uneasy – why should my staff be exposed to potential danger?
Another protection measure is I am supposed to carry a lone worker alarm if I am doing a surgery myself. Being one of those of believe “this could never happen here” then I have to admit to being somewhat lax on this aspect. Again, it couldn’t actually prevent the worst happening. All things being equal then, it seems being cautious and trying to have as many pre bookings is the best way forward. I have been really busy doing “virtual” surgeries – telephone / Zoom / MS Teams but am really keen to get back to physical surgeries and street surgeries. Anyway I will continue to engage the best I can.
