Refusal to hold inquiry into Sir David Amess murder 'an absolute insult', says his daughter

The daughter of Sir David Amess has said the government's decision to reject a national inquiry into his murder is an "absolute insult" and "betrayal to our father's memory".

Katie Amess said the death of her father, who was murdered by Ali Harbi Ali in 2021, had left an "unimaginable void" in her life.

She said the authorities had let her father down "so badly" and that his death had been "brushed under the carpet".

In a news conference, she urged Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to reverse her decision, saying: "Do not let my father's murder be forgotten.

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"Do not let his death be just another statistic."

Sir David was stabbed to death by Harbi Ali, an Islamic State (ISIS) supporter, during a constituency surgery at a church hall in Leigh-on-Sea on 15 October 2021.

The killer, who was given a whole-life sentence, had become radicalised by ISIS propaganda and had been referred to the anti-terror programme Prevent before the attack.

A review into his murder found that Harbi Ali was released from the Prevent anti-terror programme "too quickly", with his case closed five years before the attack following one meeting at a McDonald's to deal with his interpretation of what is forbidden under Islamic law.

The late MP's daughter, who is also taking legal action against Essex Police and the Home Office, has dismissed that investigation as "another useless paper review conducted by a person of their choice".

In a tearful statement, she accused Ms Cooper of having "strung" the family along for "months" by suggesting she "was working on ways to help us".

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She told reporters: "How can the government justify holding inquiries for other tragic events like Southport and Nottingham and yet refuse to investigate the very system that failed my father?

"Is his life worth less than others?

"Does our family not deserve the truth like other families and to know that what happened will never happen again?"

She said all Ms Cooper had done was "remove the possibility of us being included in the Southport inquiry; instead offering another useless paper review, conducted by a person of their choice".

In a direct message to the government, she said: "I want Sir Keir and Yvette Cooper to know exactly what the consequences are when the very government agencies that are set up to protect people like my dad, and members of the public, fail.

"Doing paper review after paper review into what happened, like what they have done since the day my dad was murdered, is simply not enough."

Ms Cooper rejected the Amess family's calls for a public inquiry in a letter to the late MP's widow and his daughter, seen by the PA news agency.

In it Ms Cooper said it was "hard to see how an inquiry would be able to go beyond" terrorist killer Ali Harbi Ali's trial and the recently published Prevent learning review.

In a statement to the PA news agency, Sir David's widow Lady Julia Amess and his daughter said the prime minister should "go away and reconsider the government's position" ahead of a family meeting with himself and Ms Cooper on Wednesday.

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Outlining the government's reasoning for refusing a public inquiry, security minister Dan Jarvis said he did not believe such a step would "unearth any information that has not already been assessed".

"In the years since this cowardly attack, there have been several reviews asking how this could have been avoided, and we have seen significant improvements to the Prevent programme as well as stronger protections for MPs," he said.

"We understand that the Amess family are still looking for answers and we take this incredibly seriously.

"While we do not think a public inquiry would unearth any information that has not already been assessed, the home secretary has confirmed that we will further scrutinise all the reviews that have taken place over the last few years.

"We very much hope this will help the family to get the justice they deserve."

(c) Sky News 2025: Refusal to hold inquiry into Sir David Amess murder 'an absolute insult', says his daughter