THE House of Commons has announced that most business due to take place on Monday is to be rescheduled to allow MPs to pay respects to Sir David Amess.
The Conservative MP for Southend West was fatally stabbed on Friday while he was meeting constituents in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.
A 25-year-old British man arrested at the scene is being held on suspicion of murdering Amess, 69, a father of five.
The House of Commons has now announced that all business after Oral Questions to the Home Office will be scrapped to allow MPs to pay respect to Amess.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon joins outpouring of tributes after Tory MP David Amess dies
A statement from the House of Commons read: "Following the tragic death of the Hon. Sir David Amess MP, the House of Commons will meet tomorrow, Monday, October 18, at 2.30pm but the planned business after Oral Questions to the Home Office will be rescheduled.
"Before the start of business, The Venerable Tricia Hillas, the Speaker’s Chaplain, will lead specially crafted Chamber Prayers. These will be followed by a minute’s silence. The Speaker will make a statement setting out arrangements for the day.
"Home Office questions will take place as indicated on the Order Paper. It is expected that after Home Office questions the Prime Minister will move a motion for the adjournment to enable Members to pay tribute to Sir David."
Following the tragic death of the Hon. Sir David Amess MP, the House of Commons will meet tomorrow, Monday October 18, at 2.30pm but the planned business after Oral Questions to the Home Office will be rescheduled.
— UK House of Commons (@HouseofCommons) October 17, 2021
Further information here: https://t.co/51AHx9azaq
The tributes are expected to conclude at around 5.30pm after which there will be a procession led by the Speaker to a service of Prayer and Remembrance for Amess in St Margaret’s Church starting at 6pm.
The service will only be open to MPs and peers.
The Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle (above), has also called for politics to be kinder following Amess's death.
In an article for the Observer and Mail on Sunday, Hoyle said: “If anything positive is to come out of this awful latest tragedy it is that the quality of political discourse has to change.
“The conversation has to be kinder and based on respect.
“This incident has shown that there is unity across the political divide in support of democracy.
“The hate, which drives these attacks, has to end.”
READ MORE: Additional security for MSPs after murder of Tory MP David Amess
The attack on Amess came five-and-a-half years after Labour MP Jo Cox was killed in her Batley and Spen constituency in West Yorkshire.
After that attack, new security measures for MPs were put in place, but Hoyle said these now need to be reviewed – and he added that is happening “closely and at pace” with the Home Office.
The Speaker made it clear he is in favour of keeping face-to-face appointments as they are “the cornerstone of our democracy”.
He said: “The very essence of being an MP is to help and be seen by our constituents.
“They are the people who elected us to represent them, so surely making ourselves available to them is the cornerstone of our democracy?”
Home Secretary Priti Patel told the BBC’s Andrew Marr on Sunday there could be changes to security details for MPs but that she too believes MPs must remain “accessible”.
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