LONDON – A member of parliament was stabbed to death on Friday during a meeting with constituents at a church in eastern England, an attack that united Britain’s corrupt politicians in shock and grief. A 25-year-old youth was arrested from the spot.
Police did not immediately provide a motive for the murder of 69-year-old Conservative MP David Ames and did not identify the suspect being held on suspicion of murder.
The attack came five years after another legislator, Joe Cox, was murdered in his small-town constituency, and renewed concerns were expressed about the risk to his job by politicians representing voters. British politicians are generally not given police protection when they meet with their constituents.
Essex Police said officers were called on information about a stabbing in the seaside town of Lay-on-Sea after noon and arrested a man and recovered a knife.
“We are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident and do not believe there is any danger to the wider public,” police said.
Sky News and others said the Ames attack was carried out during a routine meeting with constituents at the Belfair Methodist Church in a residential area of Leigh-on-Sea, about 40 miles (62 kilometers) east of London. Paramedics worked at the scene without any success to save his life.
Ames was a Member of Parliament for Southend West, which includes Leigh-on-Sea since 1997, and served as an MP from 1983, making him one of the longest-serving members of the House of Commons. became.
A traditional conservative on the right of his party, he was a well-known member of parliament with a reputation for working hard for his constituents and was known for his relentless campaign to declare Southend a city.
Politicians across the political spectrum expressed shock and grief over the death of AIIMS which left behind a wife and five children.
Conservative MP Tracy Crouch tweeted: “Heartbroken. I could write on how Sir David was one of the kindest, most compassionate, likable colleagues in Parliament. But I can’t. I Feeling sick. I’m lost.”
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party tweeted: “Elected representatives from across the political spectrum will unite in grief and shock today. In a democracy, politicians should be accessible and open to scrutiny, but no one deserves to take their own life to work for and represent their constituents. “
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s wife, Carrie Johnson, wrote on Twitter: “Absolutely devastating news about Sir David Ames. He was very kind and nice. A huge animal lover and a true gentleman. This is completely unjust. Thoughts are with his wife and their children.”
Violence against British politicians is rare, but concerns have risen in recent years about the increasingly bitter polarization of the country’s politics. In June 2016, a week before the country’s divisive Brexit referendum, Labor MP Cox was stabbed and shot in his North England constituency. A far-right extremist was convicted of his murder.
Cox’s widower, Brendan Cox, tweeted on Friday: “Attacking our elected representatives is an attack on democracy itself. No excuse, no justification. This is as funky as it gets. “
British lawmakers are protected by armed police when they are inside parliament, and security there was tightened after an attacker inspired by the Islamic State group fatally stabbed a police officer at the gate in 2017.
But politicians have no such protection in their constituencies. AIIMS publishes the times and locations of its open meetings with constituents on its website.
Two other British MPs have been attacked over the past two decades during their “surgery”, regular meetings where constituents can present concerns and complaints.
Labor legislator Stephen Timms was stabbed in the stomach in 2010 by a female student radicalized by an al-Qaeda-linked preacher’s online sermons.
In 2000, Liberal Democrat MP Nigel Jones and his colleague Andrew Pennington were attacked by a man wielding a sword during one such meeting. Pennington was killed and Jones was injured in the attack in Cheltenham, England.
