Date confirmed for Sir David Amess' funeral

It's going to be held at Westminster Cathedral.

Sir David Amess
Author: Patrick Daly, PA Political CorrespondentPublished 27th Oct 2021
Last updated 27th Oct 2021

The funeral of the murdered Conservative MP Sir David Amess will be held at Westminster Cathedral next month, it has been confirmed to MPs.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales, will preside over the service at 10.30am on Tuesday November 23.

The details were confirmed on Tuesday to MPs, peers and staff who attend Catholic services in Parliament.

The Southend West MP was stabbed to death on Friday October 15 while meeting constituents in a church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.

The funeral details for the Catholic MP come after the Commons cleared its diary on Monday last week for MPs to offer tributes to their colleague, before a memorial service at St Margaret’s Church in Westminster.

There was controversy at the time of Sir David’s murder that a local priest, Father Jeffrey Woolnough, was not allowed into Belfairs Methodist Church, where the politician was dying, to administer the sacrament of the sick, which is also known as the last rites.

Ali Harbi Ali, 25, has been charged with Sir David’s murder.

He appeared in crown court for the first time on Friday by video-link from high-security Belmarsh prison, accused of stabbing the MP to death.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) alleges the murder has a terrorist connection because of its “religious and ideological” motives.

He's due to go on trial in March.

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