Sir David Amess’s daughter tearfully speaks of ‘betrayal’ after inquiry rejected

The daughter of murdered MP Sir David Amess has tearfully spoken of the Home Secretary’s “betrayal” after rejecting his family’s calls for a public inquiry into his death.

Katie Amess told reporters she questioned why incidents such as the Southport and Nottingham attacks merited a probe and why the Government “refuse to investigate the very system that failed my father”.

Yvette Cooper wrote to Ms Amess and Sir David’s widow, Lady Julia Amess, to reject their calls for an inquiry, which the pair branded “totally unacceptable” and “insulting”.

In the letter, Ms Cooper said it was “hard to see how an inquiry would be able to go beyond” terrorist killer Ali Harbi Ali’s trial and the recently published Prevent learning review.

Lady Amess said Sir Keir Starmer should “go away and reconsider the Government’s position” ahead of the family’s meeting with the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary on Wednesday.

Katie Amess said Ms Cooper’s words were “adding salt onto an open wound”, describing her reaction to the letter as “sadness, betrayal, pain and just heartbreak really”.

Ali had been referred to Prevent seven years before he killed Sir David on October 15 2021, but his case was closed in 2016.

The so-called Islamic State fanatic stabbed the veteran MP at his constituency surgery in Essex and was sentenced to a whole-life order in 2022.

At a press conference in central London on Monday, Ms Amess emotionally told reporters the Home Secretary had “strung” the family along for “months”, suggesting she “was working on ways to help us”.

She said: “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?

“Is his life worth less than others?

“Does our family not deserve the truth like other families and to know that what happened will never happen again?

“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.”

Sir David’s family received a letter rejecting their call for a public inquiry into the case on Thursday.

In her letter, Ms Cooper said: “You had initially asked me to support the resumption of the coronial inquest which, as I said in my last letter of 17 December 2024, is a decision I cannot interfere with given the coroner’s independent judicial role, although I do recognise how difficult this is for you.

“I am aware that you have since requested a full public inquiry.

“As you will know, the coroner looked carefully at whether to resume an inquest into Sir David’s death following the criminal trial, but concluded there were no additional questions that could be answered through an investigation of this kind, that had not already been considered as part of the trial.

“In the circumstances 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.”

The Home Secretary told the Amess family she had decided to “appoint an independent external reviewer to look across the findings of the investigative work and scrutiny already completed or under way”.

She continued: “I realise this is not the answer you were looking for.

“I remain keen to discuss this with you in the forthcoming meeting with the Prime Minister.”

Lady Amess said the Government should reconsider its position for the “security of all public servants, and for every citizen who deserves to know that when the state fails”.

She said: “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.”

Addressing what she expected from the Prime Minister, Lady Amess said: “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 said: “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.”