Daughter of murdered MP says PM has given her 'glimmer of hope' after hopes for public inquiry
12 March 2025, 22:13 | Updated: 12 March 2025, 23:12
The daughter of Sir David Amess believes the Prime Minister has given her a "glimmer of hope" - that he may grant a full public inquiry into her father's death.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The MP was murdered by Islamic State sympathiser Ali Harbi Ali back in 2021.
Katie Amess met Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street earlier - but claims he couldn't answer her questions, about why there isn't one.
Ms Amess told LBC that she told the PM he could end their "heartbreak", "torture" and "torment" by giving them an inquiry - and questioned why one was called for Southport but not Southend.
She also told Iain Dale she feels "saddened" having to campaign for the inquiry - and says the family feel "let down".
Watch Again: Iain Dale speaks to Katie Amess
During their meeting in Downing Street on Wednesday, Katie Amess said Sir Keir Starmer had told them her father's case was "different to Southport, but couldn't tell me how", labelling his words "disappointing".
She told reporters the family were assured they could "come back and speak to him" if Government reviews did not provide the family with the answers they needed.
The Home Secretary previously 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, Yvette 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.
Spokesman for the Amess family, Radd Seiger said the family and its legal team will be involved in the independent review into Prevent and if questions still remain, they will urge the Government to order a public inquiry.
Speaking following a meeting with both Sir Keir and Ms Cooper, Ms Amess said: "Obviously it's disappointing because I was praying that the full public inquiry would be launched, and when I asked questions about why it can't be launched, he wasn't really able to answer them.
"He just said that my case was different to Southport, but couldn't tell me how - so that's very disappointing.
"But he said we can have a small glimmer of hope, and hopefully some of our questions can be answered.
"Those that aren't answered, we can come back and speak to him about."
Ms Amess added: "It just prolongs the heartache that we're going through.
"Obviously the best possible scenario would have been a full public inquiry, but I guess we have to cling to that 1% hope that we can get the answers through a different means, and if we don't get those answers, maybe then they'll reconsider."
Asked if she still felt betrayed by the Government's stance on an inquiry, Ms Amess said: "I still feel the same, but he did say that we could come back if we don't get the answers.
"So I still feel the same but maybe the slight glimmer of hope will come true."
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.
After Ms Amess criticised the Home Secretary's letter on Monday, Security minister Dan Jarvis said: "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."
