There has long been a view that politics has long been at its most febrile and demoralising for many years. Not helped by social media, getting along with individuals whom you disagree with profoundly feels, depressingly, like a value of the past. Well yesterday, politics just got a hundred times worse.
The afternoon started positively for me. I’d just co-presented the first proper episode of ‘The Political Arena’ with my good friend Ollie Cranham-Young on Warwick’s student radio station ‘RAW 1251AM.’ Glancing at twitter when I should have been doing university reading, I saw a tweet from Sky News’ Sarah Hewson saying Sir David Amess had been stabbed ‘multiple times’. Oh God, I thought to myself. The day now felt so eerily reminiscent of when Labour MP Jo Cox had been murdered back in June 2016. There was an outpouring of solidarity and good wishes from across the political spectrum as MPs, journalists and anyone with a shred of decency wished David well. I worried whether he would pull through - that he had been stabbed multiple times didn’t inspire confidence. At points, there did seem like glimmers of hope. Reports on twitter, which, of course, are never 100% reliable, stated Amess had been taken away in an air ambulance. I wanted to believe he was still alive and would make a recovery. Yes, it would be long, hard and painful and, admittedly, Amess might not be the person he was before the stabbing, but he would still be here. Upon my arrival home from campus, my worst fears had been confirmed. Sir David Amess had died, at the age of just 69, as a result of his injuries. An MP who had woken up to conduct their constituency duties in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, would not be returning home. I feel utterly saddened, deeply horrified and quite fearful for the state of British democracy. Time must be given when such monumental events happen to appreciate and remember the individual at its heart. Sir David had been an MP for nearly 40 years, serving Basildon from 1983 to 1997 before serving Southend West ever since. Though I never had a chance to know him, from all the media reporting, it seems he was a thoroughly decent and nice person. Never one to seek ministerial office, he probably wouldn’t reject my suggestion that he may have been a political maverick. Fearlessly championing Southend and its bid to become a city, MPs on ‘Any Questions’ last night argued that he managed not to take himself too seriously, while giving the political issues lots of attention. That is often an excellent, if underrated, combination. I was particularly moved by the remarks of former Labour MP Paula Sherriff, who, when speaking to Shelagh Fogarty on LBC, made it clear just how good friends both of them had been. Lewis Goodall on BBC Newsnight did an excellent job at capturing the mood in Leigh-on-Sea itself, as a community adjusts to what happened within broad daylight. Yesterday’s attack and killing would have been equally horrifying if David Amess had been a poor MP who didn’t bother dealing with his constituents. As it happens, Amess was simply performing the ordinary yet extraordinary task MPs undertake most Fridays. Westminster isn’t usually sitting and so, far from taking a day off, MPs conduct surgeries in their constituency for those who require help. It is inevitably and properly a public facing role. MPs are elected to represent the public both in Westminster and provide assistance at home. The job entails in-person communication with the whole cross section of the population. MPs have a duty to represent 100% of their constituents, regardless of how they voted. It is to Amess’ great credit that, despite Southend West being a safe Conservative seat, he was still engaging with constituents and helping them with their concerns. There is only so much any of us can speculate on regarding the specific nature of the crime. One man has been arrested on suspicion of murder, with the attack being declared a terrorist incident. Sir David was killed in the line of duty, having so admirably advertised this very constituency surgery on twitter to ensure people were aware and could attend. It was cold, calculated and utterly sickening. Indeed, any attack like this represents the utter failure of politics and is a complete anathema to democracy. In a liberal democracy, individuals express their profound political disagreement with one another through words and ideas. Elections are fought, petitions are signed, protests are attended as individuals take to the verbal battle of ideas. To move towards physical violence is both monstrous and marks an utter abandonment of civilised politics. I worry deeply about what yesterday’s event means for the future of how MPs interact with the public. In an ideal world, it should be seen as a wonderful thing that MPs are so open and accountable with regards to public meetings. That anyone can go into a supermarket, church, library where an MP is meeting needy constituents should be the ideal situation and an example of democracy working in action. Yet a balance must be struck with ensuring MPs have secure personal safety while also not putting up more barriers between themselves and the electorate. The vast, vast majority of the public would never contemplate committing such a heinous act, however much they disagreed with a politician. Whatever the good intentions of extra security, I worry that this could further deter the most vulnerable from visiting politicians e.g. those trying to sort their immigration/asylum claim, who may have had negative run-ins with authority previously. I also feel deeply despondent about the impact Sir David Amess’ killing will have on putting off future politicians from entering Parliament and engaging in big political ideas. Society always needs a new generation of politicians able to enter the political arena and have important arguments. Yet I can completely understand why, given the unfounded abuse politicians receive online and the horrors of both Jo Cox and Sir David Amess dying within six years of one another, a future political might not bother. That is so terrible for us all. You’ll notice throughout this blog that I’ve made no reference to Sir David’s own political views. I am sad to have never had the chance to meet and debate him. There is no doubt that we would have had many disagreements, not least on social policy. Yet all of this is completely irrelevant today. Whatever your wing of politics, everyone should utterly condemn, without hesitation or caveats, the killing of yesterday. If you do not do so, you forfeit the right to have any legitimate say in democratic politics. Over the coming days and weeks, a clearer picture will emerge of what really happened to Sir David and motives of his killer. For now, in the short term, all of our thoughts should be with his wife Julia Arnold and their five children. They must be going through utter living hell. In the long term, our thought for how we bring together safety and accountability - without any knee jerk measures - to ensure MPs can fulfil their role. This must be a top priority if democracy is to have any chance of surviving at all.
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