Home Secretary Priti Patel has asked all police forces to immediately review security arrangements for MPs following the death of Sir David Amess.
Following the killing of Sir David at his constituency surgery in Essex on Friday afternoon, Ms Patel chaired a meeting of police, security and intelligence agencies and also spoke to House of Commons’ Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
“The home secretary has asked all police forces to review security arrangements for MPs with immediate effect and will provide updates in due course,” a spokesman for Ms Patel said.
Sir David died after being stabbed at a surgery – where MPs offer face-to-face meetings with constituents – in his Southend West constituency in Leigh-on-Sea.
Sir Lindsay also promised to “examine” safety measures for MPs following the killing of Sir David, but cautioned against a “kneejerk reaction”.
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He described himself as “shocked and deeply distressed” by Sir David’s death – the second killing of an MP in their own constituency in little more than five years.
Sir Lindsay told Sky News that he had gone ahead with his own constituency surgery on Friday following the news of Sir David’s death.
“Nothing will stop democracy, nothing will stop us carrying out our duties,” he said. “Those people who don’t value the job that we do, those people who don’t support us will not win – hence why I’ve had my surgery tonight.”
Sir Lindsay said he would continue to “look at” security measures, adding: “We won’t sit back on our laurels, of course we know the challenges.
“We’ve got to protect MPs and allow them to carry out their duties. The duties that the electorate put them there for – to speak, to meet and to make sure that their views are conveyed to parliament.”
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Sister of Jo Cox in shock over MP death
Labour MP Lucy Powell on Friday night revealed she had received “a number of reassuring calls from Greater Manchester Police” with “some extra measures and support being put in place”.
Sir David’s death follows the 2016 murder of Jo Cox, the Labour MP who was shot and stabbed in her Yorkshire constituency on the day when she had been due to hold a surgery.
But senior Tories have urged caution over new security measures that would move MPs away from meeting with members of the public.
Lord Pickles, a former Conservative Party chairman who was an MP for 25 years before joining the House of Lords, acknowledged that security risks were “part of the job” for parliamentarians.
“It’s something you sign up to,” he told Sky News.
“There are some places in the world… where they [politicians] operate in a bubble, where they are a political class.
“But you could see David on the train to Southend, you could see David in local restaurants, you could see David just about anywhere.
“David’s accessibility was one of the reasons why he was such an effective operator inside parliament, inside politics.”
Lord Pickles described Sir David’s death as “tragic”, “dreadful” and “not normal”, but added: “We live in an age where sometimes you have to take risks.
“No one expects you to die, of course you don’t, but you don’t expect it to be entirely risk free.
“A doctor doesn’t entirely expect themselves to be risk free, a nurse doesn’t entirely expect themselves to be risk free, in teaching you are taking some risks.
“When you’re dealing with people who are often emotional, who feel like the system has let them down, often they’ll look for someone to blame.
“But, you know, if we sort of close up shop and just disappear behind a security bubble, it is democracy itself that will be the lesser thing.”
Image: Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered in June 2016
Lord Pickles’s fellow former Tory cabinet minister, ex-Brexit secretary David Davis, told Sky News that Sir David would “hate” the idea of MPs being distanced from their constituents.
“It’s an awful paradox, frankly, that it was in his constituency surgery that he was attacked and killed,” he said.
“I do hope – and I think he would hope – that one of the outcomes of this is not that we distance ourselves from constituents.
“He would hate that idea.”
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Eyewitness video at MP attack scene
Pauline Latham, Conservative MP for Mid Derbyshire, told Sky News there was a need to review MPs’ security.
“We can’t be totally protected,” she said. “There will always be nutcases who will try to stifle democracy, there will always be unpleasant people who will try to cause mayhem and we’re no different from any other member of the public.
“But we do put ourselves in a vulnerable position over surgeries.
“Maybe we need more security at places like that where the public know where we are – and so perhaps there should be a bigger police presence supporting MPs.”
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‘A stalwart of parliament, a great man’ – Hoyle
Kim Leadbeater, the sister of Jo Cox who is now a Labour MP herself, said that many MPs will be “scared” by the death of Sir David.
“It’s so hard because we’ve got a job to do,” she said. “I find myself now working as a politician and trying to help people and trying to do good things for people.
“It’s really important that we get good people in public life. But this is the risk that we’re all taking. So many MPs today will be scared by this.
“My partner came home and said ‘I don’t want you to do it anymore, because the next time that phone goes it could be a different conversation’.”
Ms Leadbeater said that safety was “always on my mind everywhere I go and everything I do” but added she was “really well looked after by the police”.
The amount of money spent protecting MPs rose substantially following the murder of Jo Cox in June 2016.
Accounts from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority showed MPs spent £2.5m on security in 2016/17 – up from £170,000 the previous year.
Image: Stephen Timms was stabbed twice in the stomach at a constituency surgery in east London in 2010
The murder of Jo Cox came six years after Stephen Timms was stabbed twice in the stomach at a constituency surgery in east London.
Roshonara Choudhry, a 21-year-old student, was later found guilty of attempted murder and jailed for a minimum of 15 years.
During her trial, a court heard Choudhry had made a list of MPs who had voted for the Iraq war.
Mr Timms underwent emergency surgery but survived the attack and continues to serve as MP for East Ham.
In January 2000, Andrew Pennington died while saving the life of Cheltenham MP Nigel Jones when they were attacked with a Samurai sword.
The 39-year-old, who was acting as an assistant to Mr Jones, was posthumously awarded the George Medal for bravery.
The shutdown of the US government entered its 38th day on Friday, with the Senate set to vote on a funding bill that could temporarily restore operations.
According to the US Senate’s calendar of business on Friday, the chamber will consider a House of Representatives continuing resolution to fund the government. It’s unclear whether the bill will cross the 60-vote threshold needed to pass in the Senate after numerous failed attempts in the previous weeks.
Amid the shutdown, Republican and Democratic lawmakers have reportedly continued discussions on the digital asset market structure bill. The legislation, passed as the CLARITY Act in the House in July and referred to as the Responsible Financial Innovation Act in the Senate, is expected to provide a comprehensive regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in the US.
Although members of Congress have continued to receive paychecks during the shutdown — unlike many agencies, where staff have been furloughed and others are working without pay — any legislation, including that related to crypto, seems to have taken a backseat to addressing the shutdown.
At the time of publication, it was unclear how much support Republicans may have gained from Democrats, who have held the line in demanding the extension of healthcare subsidies and reversing cuts from a July funding bill.
Is the Republicans’ timeline for the crypto bill still attainable?
Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of the market structure bill’s most prominent advocates in Congress, said in August that Republicans planned to have the legislation through the Senate Banking Committee by the end of September, the Senate Agriculture Committee in October and signed into law by 2026.
Though reports suggested lawmakers on each committee were discussing terms for the bill, the timeline seemed less likely amid a government shutdown and the holidays approaching.
Japan’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), endorsed a project by the country’s largest financial institutions to jointly issue yen-backed stablecoins.
In a Friday statement, the FSA announced the launch of its “Payment Innovation Project” as a response to progress in “the use of blockchain technology to enhance payments.” The initiative involves Mizuho Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation and its financial arm and Progmat, MUFG’s stablecoin issuance platform.
The announcement follows recent reports that those companies plan to modernize corporate settlements and reduce transaction costs through a yen-based stablecoin project built on MUFG’s stablecoin issuance platform Progmat. The institutions in question serve over 300,000 corporate clients.
The regulator noted that, starting this month, the companies will begin issuing payment stablecoins. The initiative aims to improve user convenience, enhance Japanese corporate productivity and innovate the local financial landscape.
The participating companies are expected to ensure that users are protected and informed about the systems they use. “After the completion of the pilot project, the FSA plans to publish the results and conclusions,” the announcement reads.
The announcement follows the Monday launch of Tokyo-based fintech firm JPYC’s Japan-first yen-backed stablecoin, along with a dedicated platform. The company’s president, Noriyoshi Okabe, said at the time that seven companies are already planning to incorporate the new stablecoin.
Recently, Japanese regulators have been hard at work setting new rules for the cryptocurrency industry. So much so that Bybit, the world’s second-largest crypto exchange by trading volume, announced it will pause new user registrations in the country as it adapts to the new conditions.
Local regulators seem to be opening up to the industry. Earlier this month, the FSA was reported to be preparing to review regulations that could allow banks to acquire and hold cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) for investment purposes.
At the same time, Japan’s securities regulator was also reported to be working on regulations to ban and punish crypto insider trading. Following the change, Japan’s Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission would be authorized to investigate suspicious trading activity and impose fines on violators.
The European Union is considering a partial halt to its landmark artificial intelligence laws in response to pressure from the US government and Big Tech companies.
The European Commission plans to ease part of its digital rulebook, including the AI Act that took effect last year, as part of a “simplification package” that is to be decided on Nov. 19, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
If approved, the proposed halt could allow generative AI providers currently operating in the market a one-year compliance grace period and delay enforcement of fines for violations of AI transparency rules until August 2027.
“When it comes to potentially delaying the implementation of targeted parts of the AI Act, a reflection is still ongoing,” the commission’s Thomas Regnier told Cointelegraph, adding that the EC is working on the digital omnibus to present it on Nov. 19.
EU’s AI Act entered into force in August 2024
The commission proposed the first EU AI law in April 2021, with the mission of establishing a risk-based AI classification system.
Passed by the European Parliament and the European Council in 2023, the European AI Act entered into force in August 2024, with provisions expected to be implemented gradually over the next six to 36 months.
An excerpt from the EU AI Act’s implementation timeline. Source: ArtificialIntelligenceAct.eu
According to the FT, a bulk of the provisions for high-risk AI systems, which can pose “serious risks” to health, safety or citizens’ fundamental rights, are set to come into effect in August 2026.
With the draft “simplification” proposal, companies breaching the rules on the highest-risk AI use could reportedly receive a “grace period” of one year.
The proposal is still subject to informal discussions within the commission and with EU states and could still change ahead of its adoption on Nov. 19, the report noted.
“Various options are being considered, but no formal decision has been taken at this stage,” the EC’s Regnier told Cointelegraph, adding: “The commission will always remain fully behind the AI Act and its objectives.”
“AI is an incredibly disruptive technology, the full implications of which we are still only just beginning to fully appreciate,” Mercuryo co-founder and CEO Petr Kozyakov said, adding:
“Ultimately, Europe’s competitiveness will depend on its ability to set high standards without creating barriers that may risk letting innovation take place elsewhere.”
The EU’s potential suspension of parts of the AI Act underscores Brussels’ evolving approach to digital regulation amid intensifying global competition from the US and China.