On Friday the 15th of October 2021 the House of Commons lost one of its longest serving and most committed Members of Parliament, Sir David Amess, who was brutally killed whilst serving his constituents at a regularly held constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea. Sir David Amess was fatally stabbed numerous times by Ali Harbi Ali, a 25-year-old man of Somali heritage who is believed to have been influenced by extremist Islamic beliefs. In response to the killing, Britain’s Muslim community has come together to condemn the killing of Sir David Amess and express their sadness from losing one of their greatest allies in the House of Commons.
Sir David Amess was an MP for almost 40 years, initially elected to serve the constituency of Basildon in 1983 which he represented for 14 years, fending off tough Labour competition in 1987 and 1992. During this time, he was Michael Portillo’s Parliamentary Private Secretary, however as a vocal and prominent backbencher, his greatest successes are in the causes he represented and the legislation he sponsored in Parliament, such as the Protection Against Cruel Tethering Act 1988. Sir David Amess then moved to the Southend West constituency in 1997 where he championed important local and national issues, ranging from animal welfare, tackling fuel poverty and his beloved cause of granting Southend-on-Sea city status. He was a rare MP who earned respect for his enthusiasm and conviction from across the political spectrum.
Sir David Amess’ death is not only a huge loss to British politics as a whole, but also a significant loss to Britain’s BAME community. A large part of Sir David’s work was as the Honorary Secretary of the Conservative Friends of Israel, a position he held from 1998 and took extremely seriously, once stating:
“Although I myself am not a Jew but a Catholic, there is Jewish blood in each and every one of us. I would certainly have been proud to have been born a Jew, and I stand shoulder to shoulder with our local Jewish community.”
Sir David earlier this year recalled “one of the proudest moments of [his] life” was when he successfully campaigned for a statue to be erected in honour of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews from Nazi death camps in World War II. A true friend of Jews around the world, Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid stated: “He always stood with the Jewish community and was a true friend of Israel”.
Mosques throughout Southend-on-Sea condemned the ‘indefensible atrocity’ against an ‘upstanding friend to our Muslim community’. Imam at UKIM Southend Mosque, Iftikhar Ul Haq, stated that Sir David was ‘always reachable… He showed great compassion for communities and always was there to offer support”. In a joint statement from all Southend Mosques, Sir David is described as being ‘an upstanding friend to our Muslim community’ citing that ‘Sir David joined the local Muslim community as we celebrated our achievements… He took part in the launch of Southend-on-Sea’s first Muslim Scout group. He shared in our happiness, by attending our weddings and functions and he was there for us in our times of need.”
This senseless and brutal killing has taken away one of Britain’s most enthusiastic and committed supporters of the BAME community, however Sir David’s legacy lives on through the incredible relationships he built throughout his time representing his constituency. It is entirely fitting that Southend-on-Sea has been granted city status, providing Sir David with one last victory.