Cooper 'adds salt to wound' by rejecting Amess inquiry

Yvette Cooper has been accused of "adding salt onto an open wound" after rejecting calls from the family of murdered MP Sir David Amess for a public inquiry into the killing.

- MILLIE COOKE

In the letter addressed to Sir David’s widow, Lady Julia Amess, and his daughter, Katie Amess, the home secretary said it was “hard to see how an inquiry would be able to go beyond” terrorist killer Ali Harbi Ali’s trial and the recently published Prevent learning review.

Responding in a statement, Lady Amess said Sir Keir Starmer should “go away and reconsider the government’s position” ahead of the family’s meeting with the prime minister and the home secretary tomorrow.

Ms Amess said Ms Cooper’s words were “adding salt onto an open wound”, describing her reaction to the letter as “sadness, betrayal, pain and just heartbreak really”. She also accused the home secretary of having strung the family along for months, suggesting she “was working on ways to help us”.

In her letter, the home secretary said: “I am aware that you have since requested a full public inquiry. As you will know, the coroner looked carefully at whether to resume an inquest into Sir David’s death following the criminal trial but concluded there were no additional questions that could be answered through an investigation of this kind that had not already been considered as part of the trial.