Safety of all MPs comes first after Sir David Amess killed – The Yorkshire Post says
![Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington, Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrive at the scene near Belfairs Methodist Church in Eastwood Road North, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, where Conservative MP Sir David Amess died after he was stabbed several times at a constituency surgery on Friday.](https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/webimg/QVNIMTIyOTA3ODky.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65&enable=upscale)
![Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington, Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrive at the scene near Belfairs Methodist Church in Eastwood Road North, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, where Conservative MP Sir David Amess died after he was stabbed several times at a constituency surgery on Friday.](/img/placeholder.png)
Similar sentiments were also expressed when Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox was murdered in June 2016 as she arrived at a surgery meeting in Birstall and the regret is that it has taken the death, five years later, of another Parliamentarian to recognise the courage and resilience of elected representatives.
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Hide Ad![Handout photo of (left to right) PFCC Roger Hirst, Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington, Speaker of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the scene near Belfairs Methodist Church in Eastwood Road North, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, where Conservative MP Sir David Amess died after he was stabbed several times at a constituency surgery on Friday.](https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/webimg/QVNIMTIyOTA3ODk1.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65)
![Handout photo of (left to right) PFCC Roger Hirst, Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington, Speaker of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the scene near Belfairs Methodist Church in Eastwood Road North, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, where Conservative MP Sir David Amess died after he was stabbed several times at a constituency surgery on Friday.](/img/placeholder.png)
On Monday, Parliament will fall silent to remember Sir David. It will be an incredibly sombre of occasion as MPs of all parties unite in their collective grief and try to make sense about what his loss means for democracy.
Yet, contrary to perception, MPs spend much of their time in their communities, away from the heavily-guarded Houses of Parliament, being accessible to all. It is here where the physical risks to them and their staff are omnipresent in an era when politicians and public figures frequently receive daily death threats online.
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Hide Ad![Flowers laid by Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Speaker of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle and Home Secretary Priti Patel at the scene near Belfairs Methodist Church in Eastwood Road North, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, where Conservative MP Sir David Amess died after he was stabbed several times at a constituency surgery on Friday.](https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/webimg/QVNIMTIyOTA3ODk2.jpg?crop=3:2,smart&width=640&quality=65)
![Flowers laid by Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Speaker of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle and Home Secretary Priti Patel at the scene near Belfairs Methodist Church in Eastwood Road North, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, where Conservative MP Sir David Amess died after he was stabbed several times at a constituency surgery on Friday.](/img/placeholder.png)
And here a careful balance needs to be struck so this visible presence – a hallmark of Britain’s democracy – can be maintained, enabling the most vulnerable to seek help from their local MP, without the safety of these public servants being compromised.
The response to Sir David’s killing has seen a wide variety of views emerge from MPs sitting behind secure screens to surgeries taking place in public places like supermarkets where security is close at hand. But what should never be forgotten is that the vast majority of those seeking an appointment to so because they have nowhere else to turn – and that every MP is motivated by a desire to serve personified by Jo Cox, Sir David Amess and all of their colleagues.
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