MPs have called for politicians and their staff to be given further protections in the wake of the killing of Sir David Amess.
As tributes to the Conservative MP were read in the Commons on Monday there were demands that the succession of attacks on MPs had to tackled.
Ian Blackford, the leader of the SNP at Westminster, told MPs bluntly: “Members of this house are being murdered for simply doing their job. That is the terrible reality we are faced with.”
The SNP Westminster leader said Amess was a “good and a decent man” as he recalled that the family of late Labour MP Jo Cox were being forced to relive the nightmare of their experience again.
Blackford added: “For members and staff across this house it will take time to come to terms with the terrible shock of the senseless death of another colleague.”
Labour’s Keir Starmer also highlighted other attacks on politicians as he made and appeal for society to unite against extremism.
The Labour leader said Sir David led by example by arguing his beliefs “passionately but gently”.
He added: “I believe that not only can we learn from that but that we have a duty to do so. Civility in politics matters.
Starmer said: “We must not lose sight of the fact that David’s killing was an act of terror in our country.”
“We can’t help today but think of Jo Cox and Andrew Pennington and PC Keith Palmer, who lost his life defending all of us in this place in 2017."
"We thank God that the honourable member for East Ham (Labour’s Stephen Timms) is with us in the chamber today and that the honourable member for West Lancashire’s (Labour’s Rosie Cooper) would-be attackers were stopped in their tracks.”
Starmer said the threats and violence against politicians must be confronted in the coming days and weeks,
He said: “It is too early for us to comment on the exact motivations and circumstances of David’s killing. But I want to finish by saying this: a cowardly attack on a public servant doing their job, is an attack on our country and our way of life."
“A way of life that prizes tolerance, democracy and respect. That accepts our differences – but cherishes our commonalities. That refuses to succumb to the poison of extremism. No matter what perverted cause, faith or ideology these attackers support, their intention is always the same – to sow division among us."
“That is why our response must always be to show we will never be cowed, that our bonds to one another cannot be eroded, that the hatred that took Sir David’s life will never win.”
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