David Amess: Family accuse government of 'betrayal' after calls for public inquiry into his death rejected

Katie Amess expressed her devastation after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper declined their request, questioning why incidents such as the Southport and Nottingham attacks warranted inquiries while her father’s case did not.

“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?” she asked at a press conference in central London on Monday. “Is his life worth less than others?”

Sir David Amess, 69, was stabbed to death at his constituency surgery in Essex on October 15, 2021, by Ali Harbi Ali, an extremist linked to the so-called Islamic State. Ali had been referred to the Prevent programme in 2014 but his case was closed in 2016. He was sentenced to a whole-life order in 2022.

The Amess family had been pushing for a full public inquiry, arguing that existing reviews had not sufficiently addressed the systemic failures that allowed Ali to carry out the attack.

Yvette Cooper rejected the request in a letter to Ms Amess and Sir David’s widow, Lady Julia Amess, saying: “It is therefore hard to see how an inquiry would be able to go beyond what has been reviewed in the trial, Prevent learning review, coroner’s report, as well as Lord Anderson and Essex Police’s forthcoming conclusions. On that basis, the Government cannot establish a public inquiry.”

Instead, Ms Cooper announced plans to appoint an independent external reviewer to examine findings from previous investigations. “I realise this is not the answer you were looking for,” she acknowledged. “I remain keen to discuss this with you in the forthcoming meeting with the Prime Minister.”

Ms Amess described the Home Secretary’s response as “adding salt onto an open wound” and accused Ms Cooper of misleading the family. “Yvette Cooper has strung us along for months suggesting that she was working on ways to help us. However, all she has done is remove the possibility of us being included in the Southport inquiry; instead offering another useless paper review, conducted by a person of their choice.”

Lady Amess also condemned the decision, calling it “totally unacceptable” and “insulting.” She urged the government to reconsider its stance. “Despite our repeated calls, we have been denied the one thing that can provide real answers - a full public inquiry.”

“To pour salt on the wound, Yvette Cooper has now written us a totally unacceptable and, quite frankly, insulting letter confirming that the Government will not order an inquiry, and that all the investigations to date should satisfy us. Well, I can tell her they most certainly do not.”

She called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to rethink the decision. “He must go away and reconsider the Government’s position and call us back in to confirm that an inquiry will be granted. Not just for our family, but for the security of all public servants, and for every citizen who deserves to know that, when the state fails, it will be held accountable and that steps will be taken to ensure there is no repeat.”

Security Minister Dan Jarvis defended the government’s position, saying: “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.”

“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.”