Family of Murdered Conservative MP Call for People to ‘Set Aside Hatred’ at His Funeral
16:46 GMT 22.11.2021 (Updated: 15:24 GMT 28.05.2023)
© REUTERS / PETER NICHOLLS / David Amess funeral
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The Conservative MP for Southend West, Sir David Amess, was stabbed to death at a constituency surgery last month. Sir David, who had been an MP since 1983, was 69.
The family of assassinated MP Sir David Amess have issued a message of tolerance and forgiveness at his funeral.
As the murdered MP was laid to rest in his home town his relatives called on people to "set aside hatred."
Sir David had been MP for Southend West in Essex since 1997 and before that had represented nearby Basildon since 1983.
Just in town as David Amess MP funeral procession went past. pic.twitter.com/Krr0eDmHMZ
— Dave Mallam (@Davemallam) November 22, 2021
Ali Harbi Ali, 25, has been charged with murder and preparation of terrorist actsand will go on trial next year.
Ann Widdecombe, a former Conservative MP and friend of Sir David, read a message from his family in which they said: “We are enormously proud of him, our hearts are shattered, however there was still so much David wanted to do so this is not the end of Sir David Amess MP, it is the next chapter.”
The statement went on: “He was a patriot and a man of peace, so we ask people to set aside their differences and show kindness and love to all because that is the only way forward. We must set aside hatred and work towards togetherness; whatever one's race, religious or political beliefs, we must be tolerant and try to understand.”
Images of British Member of Parliament David Amess are displayed opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, placed there as a memorial by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Monday, Oct. 18, 2021
© AP Photo / Matt Dunham
Tory MP Mark Francois, referring to the MP’s long-running campaign for Southend to be made a city, said he had “won in the end” after the prime minister agreed to the honour in the days following the murder.
Large crowds filled the streets of Southend, a seaside resort just to the east of London, to mourn the MP, who was killed as he met constituents in Leigh-on-Sea on 15 October.
The coffin, draped in a union flag, was carried in a horse-drawn casket past hundreds of local people.
