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Sir David Amess’ family read tributes outside church where he was killedThe home secretary has paid tribute to her “dear and loyal friend” Sir David Amess ahead of a two-hour adjournment in Parliament, which will allow MPs to pay similar respects in the House of Commons. “He had a huge number of friends in his house, in his constituency, Essex and well beyond,” Priti Patel told MPs, adding “decency ran through him like the writing in a stick of Southend rock”.It comes after the special session began with a minute’s silence to “remember and respect” the life of Sir David, who was stabbed to death on Friday while giving a constituency surgery. Julia Amess, Sir David’s widow, was pictured wiping tears from her face as she visited her late husband’s murder scene today and read messages on dozens of floral tributes. Accompanied by the couple’s daughters, Mrs Amess headed to Belfairs Methodist Church, in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, where the Tory MP was murdered. MPs are invited to attend a service for Sir David in St Margaret’s Church within Westminster Abbey later today, at around 6pm.Follow our live coverage belowShow latest update

1634568614Southend to be given city status in tribute to David AmessBoris Johnson has announced that Southend will be granted city status in a tribute to Sir David Amess, reports our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn. The prime minister’s remarks followed a minute’s silence in the Commons chamber for the 69-year-old Conservative MP, who was killed while conducting a constituency surgery on Friday in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.“I am happy to announce that Her Majesty has agreed that Southend will be accorded city status,” Mr Johnson said in a nod to the longtime campaign of Sir David.Sam Hancock18 October 2021 15:501634568523Johnson labels Amess ‘one of the kindest’ individuals to grace WestminsterBoris Johnson said all MPs mourn with Sir David’s family and labelled him one of the “nicest, kindest and most gentle individuals ever to grace” the Commons benches. The PM told the Commons: “Sir David was taken from us in a contemptible act of violence striking at the core of what it is to be a member of this House, and violating both the sanctity of the church in which he was killed and the constituency surgery that is so essential to our representative democracy.“But we will not allow the manner of Sir David’s death in any way to detract from his accomplishments as a politician or as a human being.“Sir David was a patriot who believed passionately in this country, in its people and in its future. He was also one of the nicest, kindest and most gentle individuals ever to grace these benches.”Sam Hancock18 October 2021 15:481634568144Southend to be given city status, PM announcesBoris Johnson has announced that the Queen has agreed Southend will be granted city status following the murder of MP Sir David Amess.It is a measure Sir David spent the large majority of his political career fighting for. Sam Hancock18 October 2021 15:421634568100PM leads tributes to ‘steadfast’ Sir David AmessBoris Johnson is now paying tributes to Sir David Amess. He told the House of Commons: “The passing of 72 hours has done little to numb the shock and sadness we all felt when we heard of the tragic and senseless death of Sir David.“This House has lost a steadfast servant, we’ve lost a dear friend and colleague, and Julia and her children have lost a loving husband and devoted father.“Nothing I or anyone else can say can lessen the pain, the grief, the anger they must feel at this darkest of times.”Sam Hancock18 October 2021 15:411634567534Another Tory MP has received death threat since Amess murder, LBC revealsSam Hancock18 October 2021 15:321634567337Patel remembers ‘decent’ and ‘good-humoured’ colleague David Amess The home secretary has paid tribute to Sir David Amess ahead of the two-hour session scheduled for MPs to do this, due to start at 3.30pm. Priti Patel paid tribute to her “dear and loyal friend” and said the Home Office, and government, was “utterly devastated” for his “wife, children and loved ones”.“He had a huge number of friends in his house, in his constituency, Essex and well beyond,” she told MPs, adding Sir David support “diverse causes on people and much loved animals” and often “enlivened [the] house by calls for city status for Southend”.Ms Patel said Sir David always “conducted business of politics in a “civilised and good-humoured way”.“Decency ran through him like the writing in a stick of Southend rock,” she said, adding: “Let’s reflect passionate commitment for the people we serve.”Sam Hancock18 October 2021 15:281634567162Watch: Amess family read tributes at murder sceneSir David Amess’ family read tributes outside church where he was killedSam Hancock18 October 2021 15:261634566768Minute’s silence held for David Amess outside church where he was killed A minute’s silence in honour of MP Sir David Amess has also been observed outside the church where he was stabbed to death.A police officer blew a whistle to signal the start and finish of the minute outside Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex. More

Boris Johnson has announced that Southend will be granted city status in a tribute to Sir David Amess.The prime minister’s remarks followed a minute’s silence in the Commons chamber for the 69-year-old Conservative MP, who was killed while conducting a constituency surgery on Friday in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.“I am happy to announce that Her Majesty has agreed that Southend will be accorded city status,” Mr Johnson said in a nod to the longtime campaign of Sir David.The attack has renewed scrutiny of politicians’ safety while Priti Patel, the home secretary, ordered a review of security arrangements for MPs, which will conclude in the “next few days”.More follows More

MPs have revealed their growing frustration with police inaction over death threats they have received, as they paid tribute to Sir David Amess in the wake of the Conservative backbencher’s murder.Former Labour MP Paula Sherriff said West Yorkshire Police officers “laughed” at her after she reported a death threat, while other politicians complained about a “patchy” police response to threats.It comes as Labour backbencher Chris Bryant revealed a man has been arrested over a threat on his life after he returned home at the weekend.Justice secretary Dominic Raab said of having received at least three threats on “life and limb” in the past two years – with the latest being of an acid attack.MPs have complained about a “patchy” response to their security fears, after Sir David’s killing at his surgery in Leigh-on-Sea on Friday has prompted fresh concern over the safety of politicians.Ms Sherriff, the former MP for Dewsbury who lost her seat in 2019, said police took “several weeks” to check the CCTV handed over after swastikas had been daubed on her office door.“They wrote to tell me the man who had been doing it had been having trouble sleeping,” she told Sky News.The Labour politician added: “When we received a death threat at my office my telephone – it was someone who had left a message on the answer phone – the police came to my office and they laughed.”Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell said police often “don’t do anything” when he reports abusive messages. The MP Romford told Times Radio there were “four or five incidents” where he had to report incidents to the police.“Quite often they … literally don’t do anything, or the onus is on me to have to give endless statements which lead nowhere. I’ve sat and given endless statements in the past and nothing comes back to you,” said Rosindell.He added: “I was attacked in the 2017 election. I’ve had threatening emails and abusive emails sent to constituents about me. Almost nothing ever happens with these things. Do I blame the police? … They’ve got a job to, they’re under-resourced, I guess.”Labour MP Diane Abbott told The Independent that the regular abuse she receives online includes death threats, as she called for social media platforms to do more to tackle the problem.“When I have been the victim of racialised and threatening attacks online and reported them to the police, often they have been unable to investigate because of the current rules on anonymity,” she stated.Lisa Nandy, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, said she did feel safe working in her constituency and the police response to MPs’ security concerns was “far too patchy” across the country.Yvette Cooper’s former parliamentary adviser Jade Botterill, said the MP had received around 50 death threats each week, saying they had become “normalised” in the duties expected of MPs’ staff.She told Sky News: “I feel like 20-30 hours a week was spent reporting death threats, giving statements to the police and giving impact statements to the court hearings. It really did change my role.”Byrant revealed he received a death threat on Saturday after getting back from Qatar. “The first message in my inbox was this death threat, pretty clear, so I notified the police and they have taken action.”The Labour MP said he had considered giving up on politics, but said he cared too much about tackling inequality and climate change and fighting for his constituents. “I’m passionate about wanting to change the world … and nobody’s going to stop me,” he said.Raab revealed that he has been the victim of three recent threats that required “intervention” but said colleagues – particularly women – have received “worse abuse”.“I have had three threats to life and limb over the last two years,” the deputy prime minister told BBC Breakfast. Raab also said the most recent threat was of “someone threatening to throw acid over me”.Raab said that an increase in private security is the most “likely” option to boost safety, rather than putting more police officers outside MPs’ surgeries.The justice secretary raised concerns that having police officers could have a “chilling effect” as constituents look to engage with their elected representative.SNP MP Joanna Cherry told the Daily Record she once required a police escort to her constituency surgery because of a credible death threat.On another occasion a constituent “behaved in such a menacing and threatening manner” that the MP and her office manager “pushed all the furniture against the door of the room in the suburban library where my surgery was being held while we waited for the police to arrive”.Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill revealed that she once had to remove an uninvited person from her home.“I’ve had to physically remove an uninvited person from my home … that is not acceptable for anyone to have to deal with that,” said the Sinn Fein politician.Meanwhile, Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge said she once received around 90,000 social media mentions in a two-month period, most of which were abusive.The senior Labour figure said it was time to find ways of “closing down anonymous abuse” on social media since it was now stifling debate. “Now I think, ‘Should I put a tweet out, or will it result in further abuse?’”The Independent has contacted West Yorkshire Police for comment. 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Boris Johnson’s government has been ordered to reveal the names of all the companies in a special “VIP lane” for contracts handed out during the Covid crisis.The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has told the health department it must disclose the names of the companies fast-tracked to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic.The government has been accused of cronyism after it emerged that firms linked to the Conservative Party were given access to a High Priority Lane – dubbed the “VIP lane” by campaigners.The ICO said the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) had “failed to comply” with Freedom of Information rules by refusing to release the names of the 47 firms given priority.The department has been given 35 days to hand over the information to the Good Law Project – which has accused ministers of “sleazy pandemic procurement” – following the group’s request for details.The campaign group has brought legal proceedings against the government’s fast-track system for PPE contracts – arguing it was unlawful for companies with political connections to be prioritised for deals while other firms had to wait in line.The government has argued that a VIP lane was a “perfectly reasonable and rational” solution to the large number of offers to supply equipment at the beginning of the pandemic.Deals totalling £12.5bn for masks, gloves and gowns and other personal equipment have come under intense scrutiny after the National Audit Office revealed that companies placed on a “VIP list” through contacts with politicians and senior officials were 10 times more likely to win contracts in the early months of the pandemic.The spending watchdog said last year that ministers had not demonstrated they spent billions of pounds on PPE in a way that was “fair and transparent”.On Thursday, the Information Commissioner wrote: “The DHSC has not disclosed the requested information, nor advised the Commissioner that it considers it is otherwise exempt by virtue of another exemption. The DHSC has therefore failed to comply with its obligations under FOIA.”The letter sent to the DHSC also warned that “failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court … and may be dealt with as a contempt of court”.Jo Maugham, director of Good Law Project, said: “Cronyism carries a double cost. It empties the public purse into the pockets of friends of the government. And it leads to bad outcomes for public health.He added: “Good Law Project, which first revealed the existence of the VIP lanes for PPE and Test and Trace, will continue the difficult but important work of exposing the truth around the government’s sleazy pandemic procurement.”It comes as the government revealed that Michael Gove and fellow Cabinet Office minister Lord Agnew referred six firms down a “fast track” route in their efforts to land Test and Trace contracts.In a response to the Good Law Project, the Cabinet Office confirmed “a total of 6 offers of help” were received to a VIP email “from the Private Office of Michael Gove and the Private Office of Lord Agnew”. More

The UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020, but Brexit negotiations are not yet over.Negotiations over the Northern Ireland Protocol have bubbled to the surface again.The EU and UK are set for an intense round of talks in the coming weeks after Brussels published a range of proposals aimed at cutting the red tape the protocol has imposed on moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.Here our political commentator, John Rentoul, answers your questions.Q: No doubt the current “crisis” over the NI protocol is dramatic news and has potentially far reaching consequences. Where do you think the landing zone is for this new turn of Brexit?I think the EU proposals offer a good basis for a compromise, allowing the lightest of checks on goods going to Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. I’m not sure what will happen to the British demand to end the role of the European court in NI. I don’t know why Boris Johnson and [Lord David] Frost are pushing it – whether they see it as the way to persuade anti-protocol unionists in NI to support it, in which case they ought to make a better case for it.Q: Do you see the latest talks as a serious attempt to unpick the whole withdrawal agreement [WA]?No, I can’t see what the point of that would be. It might be a bargaining position, designed to be dropped in return for concessions from the EU; or it might be an attempt to persuade anti-protocol unionists that the protocol has been radically changed. The danger of that is that if the EU refuses, it might harden opposition to the protocol; even a Swiss-style compromise, inserting an arbitration procedure before the European court, might only increase opposition.Q: In which decade can the UK look forward to gaining more than it had lost economically speaking?It can’t, in my opinion. I think making trade more difficult with our main market is bound to make us poorer than we would otherwise be for the foreseeable future. That doesn’t mean that we would be poorer than before Brexit, although the picture is confused by the pandemic, but magical future trade deals with expanding economies in the rest of the world are unlikely to make up the difference.But economics isn’t everything, and people are prepared to pay a price for independence – ask the SNP, which is prepared to pay a much higher one.Q: Didn’t the electorate give the Tories their majority in parliament to seal the WA and is upholding that WA executing the “will of the people”? Breaking or radically changing the WA is opposing the “will of the people”, isn’t it?I don’t think it is right that the UK government puts all the responsibility for peace on Ireland and the EU. The status of Northern Ireland, and specifically the need to maintain an open border with the Republic, means that both the UK’s and the EU’s sovereignty has to be compromised. The question is where the balance should be struck, and in my view the EU’s desire to enforce the strictest checks on goods going to NI from the rest of the UK (which was never implemented) was unhelpful, and it is good that the EU has moved on that. As for changing the protocol (part of the withdrawal agreement), that might be in accord with the will of the people in Northern Ireland, where opinion is currently evenly divided for and against the protocol. If changes can be made that increase support for the protocol, wouldn’t that be a good thing?Q: Given that Johnson agreed to the Northern Ireland Protocol in exchange for just a very thin trade deal (and no services deal), would it perhaps have been better (from a Johnson/[Dominic] Cummings perspective) to have chosen the no-deal route and then challenged the EU to make Dublin enforce a border with NI?I think the “thin” trade deal was very much better for us than no deal, which really would have stymied UK-EU trade. On the other hand, you are right that the EU and Ireland never admitted that the threat of having to enforce the EU border on the island of Ireland was one they worried about. It must be in the back of their minds still, because that is what lies behind the UK threat to suspend the NI protocol under article 16. Very much better for both sides to hammer out pragmatic compromises, though.Q: Do the EU’s concessions apply just to GB-NI trade or more widely to UK-EU trade too?Only to goods going from GB to NI, because Boris Johnson insisted that Brexit must mean leaving the EU customs union. We should be clear that the light-touch regime for GB-NI goods is a significant concession by the EU, because it does allow a possible breach in the border of the internal market, but both sides have had to accept unusual rules for the sake of making an open border in Ireland compatible with the UK as a whole leaving the customs union.Q: Will UK employers be able to pay higher wages to attract local labour? Can their businesses afford it or will prices have to rise to cover such increases which will increase inflation that negates the pay rise ? Businesses working on small profit margins could go under if they cannot attract cheap labour.The idea that wages in the UK have been suppressed by the import of cheap labour from central Europe seems to make obvious sense, but there is little evidence for it. In fact, new workers who came to the UK tended to raise productivity (as well as spending much of their wages here), thus making all of us better off. A wage-price inflationary spiral is not going to make people in the UK generally better off, although wages in some shortage sectors may rise relative to the rest temporarily.Sign up to John Rentoul’s View from Westminster newsletter for free by clicking here More

Downing Street has denied Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie broke lockdown rules to have a close friend stay over during the Christmas period as coronavirus infections surged.According to reports, the political campaigner and government adviser Nimco Ali spent time with the Johnsons in No 10 over the festive break.Just days before the planned relaxation of Covid rules for Christmas in 2020, the prime minister imposed Tier 4 restrictions across London and vast swathes of south-east England, forcing millions to cancel their plans.In response to increasing infection rates and a new strain of the virus, the mixing of households indoors was banned, socialising outside was restricted to one other person, and non-essential businesses were forced to close their doors.Certain exemptions were in place for those in bubbles who needed to travel for education or childcare purposes, while those living on their own were able to pair up with another household.Raising questions for the prime minister, however, the US magazine Harper’s reported that Ms Ali, who was given an official advisory role at the Home Office in December 2020, “spent Christmas with the couple at No 10 despite pandemic restrictions on holiday gatherings”.But a No 10 spokesperson told The Independent: “The prime minister and Mrs Johnson have followed coronavirus rules at all times. It is totally untrue to suggest otherwise.”A separate spokesperson for Ms Johnson’s issued a near identical statement, saying: “The PM and Mrs Johnson have followed coronavirus rules at all times. It is totally untrue to suggest otherwise.”Downing Street has not specifically denied Ms Ali spent the holiday with the Johnsons and their young son, though it is not clear whether the campaigner fell into one of the exemptions from restrictions.Responding to the reports on social media, Ms Ali said she had received racist abuse since “untrue story” first appeared, adding: “No I did not break any rules but you knew that and just wanted a reason to tweet hate”. More

British demands to strip EU judges of power over Northern Ireland are not on the table in Brexit talks, Brussels has indicated.The UK wants to overhaul the treaty protocol governing the territory after Brexit and chief among UK demands is to end the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).But asked whether the role of the ECJ would be included in talks a spokesperson for the European Commission told reporters in Brussels: “We are following up on the package that we have proposed on October 13 – it is a far-reaching package.”The package of proposals unveiled by EU Brexit chief Maros Sefcovic last Wednesday would dramatically reduce the number of checks on goods travelling across the Irish Sea and reduce the amount of new paperwork business have to fill in.But the list of changes offered by Brussels did not include any changes to to the role of the ECJ.The UK welcomed the EU’s engagement on the protocol, however, and agreed to kick off talks with a meeting between Mr Sefcovic and Brexit minister Lord Frost in Brussels on Friday.In a statement released on Monday Mr Sefcovic welcomed developments last week that saw “both sides [agree] to engage intensively and constructively at both expert and political level”.The statement added: “The EU seeks to focus on the areas that matter most to Northern Irish people and businesses, and where we can find common ground.”Swift joint solutions would bring the stability, certainty and predictability that Northern Ireland deserves, ultimately protecting the Good Friday Agreement in all its dimensions.”The EU says the European Court of Justice must have a role in the Northern Ireland agreement as it involves keeping the territory in the UK’s single market and customs union.The bloc does not want any body other than the ECJ interpreting EU law, as judgements set permanent precedents for other countries around the EU. It had however been reported that the Commission might be open to some kind of compromise on governance that sees the ECJ only brought in as a last resort for questions of union law. Most disputes would be handled by an independent arbitration panel. The Commission has denied any knowledge of these proposals but also not rejected them outright. More

Extra support for business startups is among a range of measures being considered by Welsh ministers aiming to keep more young people in their homeland as the number of working age citizens falls.The Welsh government is concerned that shrinking tax receipts will make it more difficult to pay for public services as young workers and graduates leave for big cities in other UK nations and abroad.Vaughan Gething, the economy minister, will set out his plans for stopping the “brain drain” and attracting top talent to Wales during a summit with leaders from business, local government and trade unions on Monday. The proposals form part of a wider strategy by ministers to boost the Welsh economy and continue its recovery from the Covid pandemic, which forced many businesses to close for months.“It’s a really significant challenge for us. If we don’t have more people of working age in good work, we’ll end up with a smaller and smaller tax base,” Mr Gething said of the demographic changes.“We need to persuade more people to stay in Wales, more people to come back to Wales and more people to make Wales part of their story. “We want to make best use of the talent we have as well as attracting people to Wales. People move to Wales to retire but it’s a great place to work as well.”He added: “It’s about having a more optimistic vision about the future – you don’t have to get out to get on, there’s a really good environment for you in Wales, not just for business or work but a good place to live.”The Welsh government also says it wants to help businesses forge stronger links with universities to create more attractive jobs and ensure “we have firms grounded in Wales who can provide future opportunities”.According to official figures, 61 per cent of the Welsh population was of working age (16 to 64) last year. This is expected to fall to 58 per cent by 2048. More