UK reviewing lawmakers’ security after David Amess stabbing

The British government wants to beef
up the security of the Members of the Parliament in the wake of the fatal
stabbing of Sir David Amess and is considering a number of options to be able
to do that.

The killing of Amess in the attack
on Friday in Leigh-on-Sea, east of London, has prompted a review of politicians’
security. The tragedy took place five years after the murder of Jo Cox, a
lawmaker from the opposition Labour Party.

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel told
Sky News that the speaker of the parliament has already put in a range of measures
post-Friday as her ministry has with policing,

“Within that, there are other
options that are being considered such as when you hold your surgeries, could
you have officers or some kind of protection?” she said. Meetings held
by the British lawmakers with their constituents are called Surgeries, according to Reuters.

Also Read | Unjust, inhumane: UK politicians in shock at David Amess’ murder

Leaders from across the political
spectrum came together on Saturday to pay tribute to Amess, a long-serving British
lawmaker whose killing has been described by the police as a terrorist
incident.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the
leader of the main opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, and the non-partisan
speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, arrived at the church where
David Amess was stabbed multiple times while meeting with constituents. A
25-year-old British man is in custody over the attack.

Tobias Ellwood, a leading
Conservative lawmaker who gave first aid to a police officer stabbed at the
gates of Parliament in 2017, said face-to-face meetings with voters should be
temporarily paused pending the security review.

Veteran Labour lawmaker Harriet
Harman said she planned to write to the prime minister to ask him to back what
is known as a Speaker’s Conference to review the safety of parliamentarians.

“I think that, while we anguish
about this dreadful loss, we can’t just assert that nothing should change. I
don’t think anybody wants to go to a situation where the police are vetting
individual constituents who come and see us, but I’m sure there is a safer way
to go about our business,” Harman told BBC radio.