Funeral and horse-drawn hearse procession to be held for David Amess

Boris Johnson said ministers ‘broke down’ when he revealed Sir David Amess was dead – as the Tory MP’s Union flag-covered coffin was paraded through his beloved Southend after today’s funeral service. 

Sir David’s ‘absolutely broken’ family pleaded with Britons to ‘set aside their differences’ in an emotional statement read to the congregation by his friend, Ann Widdecombe. 

‘This is the only way forward – set aside hatred and work towards togetherness,’ the family said. ‘Whatever one’s race, religious or political beliefs, be tolerant and try to understand. As a family, we are trying to understand why this awful thing has occurred.

‘Nobody should die in that way. Nobody. Please let some good come from this tragedy. We are absolutely broken, but we will survive and carry on for the sake of a wonderful and inspiring man. We ask at this time that the family’s privacy be respected so that we can grieve in private.’  

Earlier, delivering a eulogy, Sir David’s friend Mark Francois MP remembered him as ‘the original Essex cheeky chappy’ and praised his service to Southend, which will now become a city in his posthumous honour. 

Pall bearers from Southend Fire Service carried Sir David’s coffin out of the churchyard of St Mary’s in Prittlewell before it was placed into a horse-drawn hearse, as members of the public broke into spontaneous applause.  

Proceeding at walking pace on a crisp, bright autumn day, it is due to pause outside Southend’s Civic Centre and again outside Sir David’s Southend West constituency office, Iveagh Hall, before returning to the chapel of rest. 

Earlier today, Boris Johnson recalled how he was in the middle of a cabinet away day in Bristol when he learned of  the tragedy, and that when he told colleagues several ‘broke down’. 

He told BBC Radio Essex: ‘It was clear he inspired feelings of affection, love and admiration for the causes he espoused.

‘He was a guy who campaigned about things he really cared for… He showed what you can achieve as an MP to change lives of people up and down the country and he will be much, much missed.’ 

Today’s Mark Francois praised Sir David’s service to his constituents during his eulogy at his funeral in Southend. 

The Rayleigh and Wickford MP told mourners at St Mary’s Church in Prittlewell: ‘Our electors employ us to represent them in a contract renewable every few years.

‘We work for them and not the other way around, and no-one was ever more conscious of that than David Amess.

‘Whatever one thinks of members of Parliament, and opinions do vary, in my experience MPs of all parties do genuinely try and help other people.

‘However, collectively in recent years we have perhaps not always helped ourselves, and I humbly suggest today that we need to learn from that.

‘But, boy, did David Amess honour the contract with his employers – and in his own inimitable style.’

Mr Francois continued by sharing humorous anecdotes about Sir David Amess’ life during his eulogy.

The Tory MP continued: ‘He was the original Essex cheeky chappy. In short, David Amess had more front than Brighton.

‘He was deeply honoured to be knighted by Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor. As he told the Echo newspaper: ‘I never dreamt that one day a boy from Forest Gate would be made a knight by a Queen in a castle’.

‘He subsequently celebrated by hiring a lightweight suit of armour and turning up to the mayor of Southend’s annual reception on a horse. When he was asked what he thought he was doing, he simply replied: ‘I’m a knight’.’

Mr Francois continued: ‘He put Basildon firmly on the map and he worked tirelessly for Southend.

‘In the end, I think his constituents loved him for it.

‘Just look at the turnout here today in this beautiful house of God, which, before long, will form part of the city of Southend – forever.

‘So, he won in the end. Some would say, including me, that David was a bit of a legend really.’

The former minister also recalled how Sir David had helped break the world record for the most centenarians at one lunch during an event in Southend, recorded an album with Bananarama and had a boiled sweet blessed by the Pope.

Finishing the tribute, Mr Francois said: ‘The David Amess I knew never yielded on an important point of principle to anyone, and so neither shall we.

‘Despite this awful tragedy, we are going to keep calm and carry on, because I earnestly believe that is exactly what he would have wanted us to do.

‘So, we come to say farewell, or perhaps it is adieu, to Sir David Amess – a wonderful husband and father to Lady Julia and their children, a fine parliamentarian and an absolutely brilliant constituency MP.

‘Whatever the weaknesses of Parliament, David Amess was the living embodiment of all its strengths.

‘You see, ladies and gentlemen, in the end he really was, quite literally, a jolly good fellow. And so, I am sure, say all of us.’  

Today’s funeral service, led by Reverend Paul Mackay and Rev Monsignor Kevin William Hale, was strictly by invitation only, although it will be broadcast live on local radio. Hymns included The King of love my Shepherd is, by John Rutter, Make Me a Channel of Your Peace, and When a Knight Won His Spurs. 

Mr Francois, speaking before the service, said he had ‘mixed emotions’ today, saying: ‘We’d all rather David was still with us.

‘But this has been an opportunity for the whole of the community of Southend to come together and to pay their respects.

‘I genuinely believe David was loved in Southend and this is a chance for the people of what will now be that city to express their sympathy with Lady Julia and the family.’

Mr Francois said Lady Julia ‘deliberately wanted to have two services’ for Sir David.

‘She wanted to have one in Southend so that the town could grieve and pay its respects,’ he said.

‘And then because David was a staunch Catholic, his faith was immensely important to him, as were his family and his constituents, there will be a full requiem mass at Westminster Cathedral tomorrow.’ 

Choirs sung before and during the service, including the Southend Boys’ and Girls’ Choirs, Leigh Orpheus Male Voice Choir and St Mary’s Church Choir. 

The family said in their statement that the outpouring of love for Sir David had ‘brought us much comfort’. 

‘The support shown by friends, constituents and the general public alike has been so overwhelming,’ he said. ‘As a family, it has given us strength.

‘We have realised from tributes paid that there was far, far more to David than even we, those closest to him, knew. We are enormously proud of him.’ 

The family will say, in the statement read by Miss Widdecombe: ‘Our hearts are shattered.

‘However, there was still so much David wanted to do – this we know from the events of the last few days.

‘So, this is not the end of Sir David Amess MP. It is the next chapter and, as a family, we ask everyone to support the many charities he worked with.’

Sir David’s family will ask people to ‘set aside their differences and show kindness and love to all’, in their statement, to be read at his funeral service.

The statement says: ‘This is the only way forward. Set aside hatred and work towards togetherness.

‘Whatever one’s race, religious or political beliefs, be tolerant and try to understand. As a family, we are trying to understand why this awful thing has occurred. Nobody should die in that way. Nobody.

‘Please let some good come from this tragedy. We are absolutely broken, but we will survive and carry on for the sake of a wonderful and inspiring man.

‘We ask at this time that the family’s privacy be respected so that we can grieve in private.’   

Tomorrow, a requiem mass will be held at Westminster Cathedral in London, where a message from the Pope is to be shared.

In an earlier interview, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told BBC Essex that several of his Cabinet colleagues broke down in tears when they learned of Sir David’s death.

Mr Johnson had been on a Cabinet away day when he was told the news.

‘Everybody was absolutely devastated,’ he told the broadcaster. We were all sitting around. I then got called out and got given the news.

‘I had to go back in to tell Cabinet colleagues, many of whom had known David for decades, and I’m afraid several colleagues broke down in tears because it was just an appalling piece of news.

‘I think we were also very shaken by the implications of what had happened, and the fact his life had been tragically ended in the way that it was.’

Remembering her friend on a radio interview before the service, Ann Widdecombe said he ‘always had a smile’ and was ‘always interested in people’. 

‘Most MPs look pretty miserable most of the time because they’re tired, or worried about something,’ she said. 

‘But David always had a smile and not just for his own side. He would spend hours speaking to people.

‘If you went for a meal and the waiter came over that waiter would not be able to take the order because he’d speak to them for so long.

‘He was just so interested in people.’

She also recalled the moment Sir David put forward an early day motion in the Commons congratulating her for a performance on Strictly Come Dancing. 

‘I was the first politician to do it and a lot of people were terribly opposed to it and thought it wasn’t dignified, but he thought it was hilarious,’ she said. 

‘He loved the theatrical, tradition and ceremony.’

The alleged terrorist accused of fatally stabbing Sir David will enter pleas next month at the Old Bailey ahead of a potential trial in March next year.

Ali Harbi Ali is charged with murdering the Conservative MP for Southend West during a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on October 15.

The 25-year-old British defendant, who is in custody, is also charged with preparing acts of terrorism between May 1, 2019 and September this year.

Ian Gilbert, leader of Southend Council, said today would be an ‘incredibly emotional day’.

He said that Sir David’s family ‘understand there are many others in the city who knew and loved him’, and have agreed for the service to be broadcast on local radio station BBC Essex.

Sir David’s family have requested that in lieu of flowers or other tributes, donations are made to the charities that he supported.

These include The Dog’s Trust, The Music Man Project, Prost8, Endometriosis UK, and the Dame Vera Lynn Memorial Statue.