Murdered MP's daughter unhappy with review offer

The daughter of murdered MP Sir David Amess has said she is "disappointed" after the government offered another review into his death.

The Conservative MP for Southend West was killed by an Islamic State fanatic while holding a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, in October 2021.

His daughter Katie Amess, who met Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood today hoping to secure a full public inquiry into his death, told the BBC: "We got no answers out of the last couple of reviews."

In a statement, the Home Office said a public inquiry would not "unearth any information that has not already been assessed".

A spokesperson for the department said: "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.

"We have confirmed that we will further scrutinise all the reviews that have taken place over the last few years."

Amess told the BBC: "They have offered us a review and my point is this is a review of a review of a review. They're trying to assure me that we will get more.

"This is now the fifth year that we're going into that my father isn't here with us... They're just kicking the can down the road and it's unnecessary heartache.

"I don't understand why other people can get an inquiry [but] we can't get an inquiry."

Ali Harbi Ali, who was 26 when he murdered Sir David, is serving life in prison.

During his trial, the court heard he had been radicalised online by the group calling itself Islamic State.

He had previously been referred to Prevent, a government scheme designed to identify and prevent radicalisation, and he was part of the programme between 2014 and 2016.

A government‑commissioned review of the system by Lord Anderson in 2025 concluded there had been "a string of failures" in the case, mainly down to "human error".

The Amess family have tried to get the inquest into Sir David's death reopened to understand how Ali was able to kill an MP despite being referred to the Prevent scheme, but senior Essex coroner Lincoln Brookes turned down their request.

He said: "The fact that the perpetrator's case was not handled as well as it should have been in Prevent does not of itself amount to any evidence that Sir David's death was possibly or probably preventable five years later had his case been handled better."

Sir David's daughter said that during her meeting with the home secretary today, she was told a public inquiry was granted when there was a "mass failing of the state".

She said: "My response to that is 'Do you not think that the murder of a Member of Parliament in his constituency surgery is a mass failing of the state?' She wasn't able to answer that."

Mahmood told Amess that a reviewer would be lined up "in the next few weeks", although the terms of the review had not yet been drafted.

Amess said that if the latest review still failed to answer her questions, she would continue pushing for a full inquiry.

She said: "I'm going to come back again, and again, and again until I get those answers.

"I won't be agreeing to that review unless I'm happy with the terms of reference, because I'm not going to be led down the garden path again.

"I just believe that my dad is watching me and is guiding me on, and he's cheering me on from heaven, saying 'Don't give up', and just to keep going, basically. So that's what's giving me the strength."

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