Ann Widdecombe was “my dad’s best friend” and her death is like a “sick dream”, the daughter of murdered MP Sir David Amess has said.
Katie Amess, whose father was murdered in 2021 by an Islamic State sympathiser, warned that “nothing has changed” since his death.
Reflecting on the role that Ms Widdecombe played in the wake of his murder, Ms Amess said: “When it happened to my dad, she came up from Devon, she lived with us, she protected us. To see what has happened to her is just like I’m living in a sick, sick dream”.
The former Tory minister – who became close friends with Sir David during their time in parliament – was godmother to one of his children and read out a tribute to him, written by his family, during his memorial service.
Recalling the tribute, Ms Amess said: “At the end of the family statement. Aunt Ann says ‘please, let some good come from this’.”
Ms Amess – who is still pushing for a public inquiry into her father’s death – said Ms Widdecombe’s death now feels “just so cruel”.
She told The Times: “I’ve consistently been saying we aren’t safe, nothing has changed. And the government comes out and says ‘no, no, no, we’ve successfully overhauled the system, we’ve done reviews’.
“They say the family should be happy with all their answers, and it’s just complete and utter nonsense.”
The Southend West MP was stabbed to death at a constituency surgery in Essex in 2021 by so-called Islamic State fanatic Ali Harbi Ali, who was sentenced to a whole-life order for the murder the following year.
Ali had been referred to anti-radicalisation scheme Prevent seven years before he killed the veteran MP, but his case was closed in 2016. The government rejected calls for a public inquiry last year.
“The government don’t understand the heartbreak and the trauma that we are living with every single day. I don’t really understand why they wouldn’t want to do a full inquiry”, Ms Amess said.
While home secretary Shabana Mahmood in March appointed former Tory justice secretary Robert Buckland to conduct another independent review into the circumstances around Sir David’s death, Ms Amess argues it is only a statutory public inquiry that would go far enough to get the truth as it would have the legal power to compel witnesses to give evidence.
“I don’t understand why they don’t want these answers to come out. We’re sitting here less than five years later”, Ms Amess said, adding that Ms Widdecombe was “my dad’s best friend, and we still don’t know the answers to why it happened to my dad”.
“She was just the most amazing admirable woman. She was just such a tower of strength and I think even if you didn’t agree with her politics, you could admire how much she tried to fight to make this country a better place and she stood by her principles.”
Ms Widdecombe, 78, was was found dead at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor, Devon, last Thursday.
Counter-terrorism police have said she was killed in a “targeted attack”, and her death has sparked a wider conversation about the safety of MPs.
