I last saw David Amess a fortnight ago in the slightly incongruous setting of a houseboat moored on the Manchester Ship Canal.
We were attending the annual conference party thrown by Thurrock MP Jackie Doyle-Price, where David was in typically ebullient form.
As he left, he asked about my mother – the former Labour MP for Hampstead & Highgate – with whom he used to spar across the Commons chamber.
‘Give her my love,’ he requested, ‘though I’m not sure she would remember me.’
All Labour MPs remember David. His surprise victory in Basildon on Election night 1992 brought an end to the party’s hopes of ousting John Major.
But it was never held against him. As the warmth and sincerity of the tributes that have been paid from the Labour benches attest.
All Labour MPs remember David. His surprise victory in Basildon on Election night 1992 brought an end to the party’s hopes of ousting John Major
Though not all of those tributes have been welcomed. As news of the appalling attack was filtering through, a tweet from Angela Rayner expressing her own sympathies provoked anger from several Tory MPs and officials.
‘She was calling us scum a few days ago,’ one told me. ‘She doesn’t get to express sympathy today.’
In the immediate aftermath of a horrifying event such as this, it’s understandable that emotions run high. So it’s important not to reach for knee-jerk-reactions, or apportion unnecessary blame.
But when an elected Member of Parliament has just been stabbed to death in their constituency surgery – and a house of worship – it’s also important not to hide unpalatable truths.
A court case is pending, and the terrible facts surrounding the death of David Amess will be brought to light.
But those seeking a direct parallel between the comments of Angela Rayner and the attack in Leigh-on-Sea should desist. Whatever motivated his killer, it will not prove to have been some ill-advised words at a Labour fringe meeting.
But if the brutal killing of a Conservative MP should not be used to draw inappropriate political parallels, it should at least give people pause.
And more specifically, it should give people on the Left pause.
When Jo Cox was murdered, a consensus quickly formed, one that prevails. It held that while she was murdered by a single individual, he did not act alone.
Thomas Mair was a product of what was loosely dubbed ‘far-Right’ extremism. He had links to the National Front and the English Defence League, and toured the internet, immersing himself in extremist far-Right propaganda.
Poison that still exists today. It can be seen in the fragmented but still active far-Right hate groups. It can be seen at the fringes of elements of the pro-Brexit movement. And it can increasingly be identified among elements of the anti-vax movement.
So the threat of Right-wing extremism is real. But at least it is recognised and, in the main, universally condemned by the political mainstream. And it exists primarily on the political fringes.
This morning, we have to begin to talk about and confront the scourge of Left-wing extremism.
It is a very different creature to the extremism of the Right. It is less overtly violent. But it is equally toxic and represents an equal risk to our democracy and its parliamentary representatives. Because, crucially, it does not reside on the political margins.
When an elected Member of Parliament has just been stabbed to death in their constituency surgery – and a house of worship – it’s also important not to hide unpalatable truths
One of the tributes issued to David Amess was from Labour MP John McDonnell. But in 2011, McDonnell said this: ‘I want to be in a situation where no Tory MP, no Tory or MP, no Coalition Minister, can travel anywhere in the country or show their face anywhere in public without being challenged by direct action.’
He added: ‘Any institution or any individual that attacks our class, we will
