UK MP David Ames stabbed to death during election meeting
British Conservative MP David Ames died on Friday after being stabbed during a meeting with constituents at a church in eastern England. A 25-year-old man has been arrested. The Essex Police Force said officers had been called to a report of stabbings in Leh-on-Sea after Friday afternoon. It said, “One person was arrested and a knife was recovered. “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.
The force later said that one person injured in the stabbing died. It did not release its name. Police said that the accused is being arrested on suspicion of murder. Sky News and others said the Ames was attacked during a routine meeting with constituents at the Belfair Methodist Church in a residential area of Leigh-on-Sea, a seaside town east of London. Aerial footage showed several ambulances and an air ambulance waiting near the church.
Local councilor John Lamb said Ames had not been taken to a hospital more than two hours after the attack and that the situation was “extremely critical”. Ames, 69, was the Member of Parliament for Southend West, including Lay-on-Sea since 1997, but has been an MP since 1983. He was a noted member of parliament, known for his relentless campaign. Southend has declared the city.
Politicians across the political spectrum expressed grief over the initial reports of stabbings. Labor leader Keir Starmer tweeted that this is “horrible and deeply shocking news. Thinking about Dawood, his family and his stick.” Former Prime Minister David Cameron, a conservative, tweeted: “Very distressing and worrying news coming from Lay-on-Sea. My thoughts and prayers are with Sir David Ames and his family.”
Violence against British politicians is rare, but in June 2016, Labor MLA Joe Cox was stabbed to death in his North England constituency. A far-right extremist was convicted of his murder.
Cox’s widower, Brendan Cox, tweeted that “attacking our elected representatives is an attack on democracy itself. No excuse, no justification. This is as funky as it gets. “
British MPs are protected by armed police inside Parliament, but there is 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 this century have been attacked during their “surgery”, regular meetings where constituents can present concerns and complaints.
Labor legislator Stephen Timms was stabbed and wounded in the stomach in May 2010 by a female student radicalized by an al-Qaeda-linked preacher’s online sermons.
In 2000, Liberal Democrat MP Nigel Jones and his aide 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.
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