The David Amess murder: Will politics change?

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

Institute for Government

News, Politics, Government

4.6 • 252 Ratings

🗓️ 22 October 2021

⏱️ 42 minutes

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Summary

The murder of Sir David Amess MP has shocked the political world deeply. With the threat level to MPs now assessed as “significant”, how will this terrible event affect the face-to-face contact with parliamentarians that British democracy depends upon? Plus, are the Government’s voluminous climate change plans in shape for Boris Johnson’s big moment at COP26? As energy prices soar, has the Government got its Net Zero tax sums rights? Tim Ross, executive editor (politics) of the New Statesman, is our special guest. “The mood in Westminster is incredibly sad… David Amess and also James Brokenshire were two of the nicest and kindest MPs.” – Tim Ross “If leaders want the public to treat MPs with respect, it needs to start from the top. We can’t have Prime Ministers bashing Parliamentarians.” – Jill Rutter “What is driving this aggressive culture? There is a profound cynicism about Parliament – but most parliamentarians are decent people who are trying to help.” – Alice Lilly “I question whether the country cares enough about its democracy. Do we care enough to protect our MPs?" – Tim Ross “You can’t spin shortages on the shelves as a brilliant idea.” – Giles Wilkes Presented by Bronwen Maddox with Alice Lilly, Jill Rutter and Giles Wilkes. Audio production by Alex Rees. Inside Briefing is a Podmasters Production for the IfG. https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Inside Briefing, the podcast from the Institute for Government.
0:14.7	I'm Bronwyn Maddox.
0:16.4	The murder of Sir David Amos has profoundly shocked Westminster and the country.
0:21.9	Parliamentarians have paid moving tributes to the late Conservative MP for South End West, while questioning what it means
0:27.0	for one of the basic roles of an MP meeting constituents and speaking for them. We'll discuss what
0:32.9	the awful news means for security and for our elected representatives.
0:42.4	Politics as usual continues. This week, the government published three net zero documents,
0:48.0	including the long-awaited net zero strategy. Lots of pages, lots of grass, lots of targets,
0:53.1	but does that improve the chances of the summit kicking off in just over a week. We'll take a look at that.
0:58.6	And outside Parliament, the supply shortages and the energy price rises are still a problem.
1:00.0	How worried should we be?
1:01.8	How worried should Boris Johnson be?
1:04.7	We'll look ahead at a winter that may not be all that content.
1:08.2	To discuss all this, we're joined in the studio by IFG Senior Fellow, Jill Rutter.
1:08.6	Hi, Jill.
1:09.5	Hello.
1:12.0	Great to have you here. Our senior fellow,
1:16.9	Giles Wilkes, is back again. Hi, Giles. Hi, there, Bollin. Great to have you. And I'm delighted to be joined again by Tim Ross, the recently appointed executive editor, Politics, the New Statesman. Hi, Tim,
1:22.2	how are you doing? Hello, very well. Thanks for having me on. Not at all. You started just before the party conferences.
1:39.4	Yes. Been a busy, busy month so far. It's not going to let up, I think. Last week, Sir David Amos, an MP since 1983, was stabbed to death at an open-advised surgery for his constituents in Essex.
1:44.9	Our sympathies, obviously, go to his family and friends. His murder came just five years after the killing of MP Joe Cox, and it's prompted many MPs to question just how safe they are and to weigh
1:50.4	up the risks in holding an elected office. We're joined now as well to discuss this by Alice Lilly.
	...

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