David Amess, the MP for Southend West, was murdered today whilst conducting his surgery at a church hall in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.
Police have already arrested a 25-year-old suspect and say they are not looking for anyone else connected with the murder.
This is the second time in five years that a MP has been killed whilst out working in their constituency.
It raises two obvious issues. One is the safety of MPs whilst not in Parliament, and the second is the safety of anyone who is working with and around the general public.
MPs in the House of Commons are heavily protected by a specialist armed police branch called the PaDP or Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection.
Outside of that their protection is minimal, and often MPs run their surgeries with just one other staff member present. They go out into the streets to speak to people in much the same way. Most MPs will say that the best part of the job is meeting the people who elected them.
So how can this benefit to democracy continue if MPs are putting their lives on the line? What protection can be given that does not interfere with that MP’s ability to meet and greet us whenever they or we feel that is necessary?
Do we have to meet our MPs in the presence of armed police – police who would also listen to every word we may not want them to hear us discussing with our elected representatives? Recent events may mean that we are discussing the police themselves!
We do not want, and we do not need, our MPs to become shadowy, distant figures only ever seen on television: MPs who only communicate by email or video. They need to interact with us and us with them. Clearly David Amess was one of those MPs who liked to meet and chat with the people who voted for him.
Whatever you may think of our political parties, we have a duty to protect our MPs and by doing so the democratic system that they enable. How we go about this needs to be addressed quickly. And in doing so maybe we can also address the safety of the wider public as well.
The death of David Amess should not be a ‘so what’ moment. His death, echoing that of Jo Cox just five years before, should act as a wake-up call to everyone.
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