I want to thank the many people in Cheltenham, including several readers of the Echo, for their kind messages of condolence and support following the brutal death of Sir David Amess.
The warm tributes that have been paid to David have reflected the man I knew – impish, fun, and kind to his bootstraps. I’ll never forget the generosity he showed to me as the new Conservative candidate for Cheltenham in 2013, taking time out of his diary to invite me to Parliament to offer help and advice. And on my first appearance at the despatch box as a minister, he wrote me a lovely letter about my performance.
The tributes in Parliament were hilarious as well as poignant. I won’t forget the story of David routinely introducing a parliamentary colleague at Southend fetes with the words: “This is James, my neighbour, who was recently released from prison”. Or the story of the budgies and fish he kept in his Westminster office in defiance of the parliamentary authorities.
Although people have kindly asked after my safety, it really isn’t me I’m worried about. I know the risks, and I accept them – to serve the town and the country I love. Instead I am more concerned for my staff, who work so diligently behind the scenes. So whilst face-to-face surgeries and meetings will continue as normal, we’ll take sensible, modest, precautions. There’ll be no knee-jerk reactions, and I won’t be soaking up police resources which could be better deployed elsewhere.
As well as my staff, the people I’m really thinking about right now are Nigel Jones and the family of Andrew Pennington. This will be an unimaginably difficult time for them, and they are in my thoughts and prayers.
Thank you again. In closing, I recall the defiant advice of Tennyson, a one-time resident of St James’ Square, Cheltenham, who urged in his poem Ulysses: ‘To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.’
Let’s do just that.
[Column published in the Gloucestershire Echo]