"I can't think of any more fitting tribute to Sir David than for Southend to be given city status" says the leader of the Conservative group on Southend Borough Council.

It was an issue the Essex MP had pushed for over many years.

Tony Cox who was also a good friend of the MP said the area had lost a great constituency MP while a family had been "robbed" of a father and husband.

He said the MP worked tirelessly until the end for his constituents and the area.

Image source, Reuters

Home Secretary Priti Patel has thanked the emergency services particularly the police who she says responded with “great speed but also with selfless professionalism and as ever putting themselves in harms' way to protect the rest of us”.

She says there will “obviously be discussions” about MPs’ safety and that she has been speaking to the police and security services.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council also says it has contacted every MP to talk about their security arrangements.

It encouraged MPs to "immediately report any security concerns" to their local police force.

Dominic Casciani
Home Affairs Correspondent

Scotland Yard’s decision that the killing of Sir David Amess was an act of terrorism confirms that, on the basis of what they know so far, the killer was motivated to use violence to further their cause.

There’s no public suggestion from investigations at the moment that there is a specific additional threat to MPs – but detectives and colleagues in MI5 will be delving deeply into the life of the suspect to understand how he reached this mindset and whether this was an attack by a “lone actor” or someone who is part of a network.

It also confirms the initial conclusion that there would need to be more resources thrown at the investigation.

Behind the scenes a wider range of detectives and support staff will now have been brought into action.

If officers have recovered the suspect’s mobile phone, they will now be forensically examining its contents to uncover potential evidence of mindset and planning.

A phone – and any bank cards - will also help detectives track the suspect’s movements in the days and weeks before the incident.

That in turn leads them to CCTV so they can build a three-dimensional view of his life.

Slough MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi has been to Leigh-on-Sea to pay his respects to Sir David Amess.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast he said: "Just last week, we were all together, 12 MPs went across to Qatar, Sir David was chairman of the all party delegation and he led that delegation with absolute brilliance.

"Not only was he able to cut across so many issues but he made everybody feel a part of that delegation and he didn’t try to basically influence proceedings or dominate proceedings… that was his character.

"It takes a very special person to be able to do that, and bring everybody in, to harness everybody’s potential as we look to bolster ties across our two nations."

Mr Dhesi called for the "nation at large and especially keyboard warriors" to "bring down the bile and abuse" against those in public life.

Image source, PA Media

Here's what we know so far about the investigation into the killing of the Essex MP:

• Sir David, 69, who had been an MP since 1983, was fatally stabbed while meeting constituents during a surgery at a church hall in Leigh-on-Sea
• Scotland Yard has formally declared the incident as terrorism and said early investigations have revealed "a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism"
• A 25-year-old man arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder is in custody at an Essex police station
• As part of the investigation, officers were also carrying out searches at two addresses in the London area, the Met Police said
• Sir David's death has seen police forces contact all MPs to discuss their security and personal safety

• This morning, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was joined by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to lay flowers at the scene
• Home Secretary Priti Patel and Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle also paid their respects outside Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea

You can read more on how the attack unfolded here.

Patel says security arrangements for MPs will ensure they can "carry on with their duties as elected democratic members".

It follows a call from senior Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood to end physical meetings between MPs and constituents - known as surgeries - in favour of phone calls and virtual video conferencing.

Patel references the live and ongoing police investigation and says that security for MPs is being reviewed.

"Acts like this are absolutely wrong and we cannot let that get in the way of our functioning democracy," she says.

The home secretary says she has held meetings with the Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle, police and security services to ensure appropriate measures are in place for MPs.

Speaking as an Essex MP herself, she ends her short statement by saying that Sir David was well loved and respected.

Home Secretary Priti Patel says "we're all struggling to come to terms with the fact that Sir David Amess has been so cruelly taken away from us".

She says Sir David "was just a passionate advocate and champion for Southend" and was "a man of the people".

"To me he was a dear and loyal friend," she adds, paying tribute to his wife Julia and their children.

Tributes paid to Sir David reflect "the warmth, love and affection" held for him.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer paid a short visit to the scene where Sir David was killed to lay flowers in tribute to their colleague.

The former Conservative politician and writer, Lord Jeffrey Archer has been speaking about his last phone call with his friend Sir David Amess.

"His first thoughts were always for his constituents. If ever he got in touch with me it was always to seek advice, it was never for his own interests.

"His most recent call I remember vividly was to talk about the statue he wanted to build for of Dame Vera Lynn. It was typical of David, he wanted to do something for someone else and that's what will be my abiding memory.

"I've walked the streets in many elections, with many members of parliament but I've never walked with one who was more loved by the people on the ground."

The writer and politician also told BBC Radio 5 Live he was especially touched by the tributes from members of opposition parties.

Security of MPs after the death of Sir David Amess is a big topic for debate this morning.

Labour MP Harriet Harman, chair of the Human Rights Select Committee, who reported on threats to MPs in 2019, says she will be writing to the prime minister asking him to back a Speaker's Conference to review the safety of parliamentarians in their constituencies

Image source, Getty Images

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the issue of MP safety had "absolutely" worsened since her election in 1982 and in the wake of Sir David's death, "we can't just assert that nothing should change".

"I don't think anybody wants to go to a situation where the police are vetting individual constituents who come and see us, but I'm sure there is a safer way to go about our business," she said.

She added since Jo Cox's death there had been changes to home security and security in Parliament, but not about "how we go about that important business in our constituency, but do it in a safe way".

"I think we must do that now," she said.

"We cannot have the death of an MP being a price worth paying for our democracy."

Iain Dale, the broadcaster and journalist, says he was due to be at a dinner with Sir David on Friday night.

"It was an event that was destined never to be," Dale says, remembering the MP's cheeky smile and his first election victory in the 1980s.

"I don't think he could quite believe he was there," Dale adds, saying Sir David blazed a trail for working class representation in the Commons.

"He was a great campaigner... David Amess was one of the Conservative MPs to get on your side," he says. "He had a real record of achievement."

Image source, Reuters

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel held flowers as she arrived at the scene where MP Sir David Amess was stabbed to death during a meeting with constituents at the Belfairs Methodist Church, in Leigh-on-Sea.

A short time before her, the prime minister and the leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer arrived together and paid their own respects.

Image source, Reuters

The former Cabinet minister Michael Portillo has remembered Sir David - his one time parliamentary aide - as "a true public servant".

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, external, Portillo says MPs "do not lack courage" and he is "deeply saddened and horrified" by Sir David's killing.

He remembers the MP's rise to prominence "with a grin: one of the largest ever shown on British television".

Portillo writes: "While I trotted around various ministerial jobs, David followed me as my parliamentary private secretary. He knew the House of Commons intimately and loved it.

"He was therefore extremely useful to me, offering advice, mounting operations and watching my back against the plentiful Conservative daggers aimed against it."

"He lived a true public servant and his death shocks us all," he adds.

Image source, Reuters

More now from Leigh-on-Sea, where PM Boris Johnson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer have just ended a visit to the scene of Friday's attack.

They laid flowers and silently paid their respects on the quiet residential street outside the Belfairs Methodist Church.

Home Secretary Priti Patel and Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle were also in attendance.

The politicians went up individually to the front of the church to pay their respects.

They then returned to their vehicles, escorted by a police convoy.

They did not stop to talk to reporters.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer are visiting Leigh-on-Sea following Friday's killing of Sir David Amess.

Many people are discussing whether security for MPs needs to be ramped up.

They include Ivan Henderson, a former Labour MP for Harwich from 1997-2005 and now a town councillor.

He called Sir David a "decent and very kind man".

Speaking to BBC Essex, he said MPs deal with all sorts of people and "there are occasions where you do fear for your own safety".

"But it's part of the duty that you take on when you're elected and it's expected," he said.

"It's our open democracy and we shouldn't steer away from that, I love just walking around the street and people stopping and talking to me - that is part of you being open and available to your constituents and understanding what the issues are."

The councillor said MPs are always out and about at events in their constituencies and he's "not sure how much safer you can be".

"You couldn't have security alongside you all the time because then you're shutting down that openness MPs and councillors need," he said.

Jacqui Smith, the former Labour home secretary and now chair of the Jo Cox Foundation, says Sir David was a "kind and generous colleague" and that when he questioned her in government it was "always with a kindness".

"The devastating thing about this is that it is absolutely tragic for Sir David's family and those who loved him and our hearts go out to them but it's also of course an attack on our democratic system," she tells BBC Breakfast.

"Elected representatives have a right to be safe in their public life."

"That's what our democracy depends on," she adds, saying we all have a responsibility to treat elected representatives with respect.

Smith says the review ordered by current Home Secretary Priti Patel is in two parts - an immediate review of security arrangements and longer work into what can change to make MPs safer.

Sir David's constituents have been remembering him at a vigil.

About 80 people attended the service St Peter's Catholic Church in Eastwood last night, where Father Jeff Woolnough recounted his own memories of the MP.

Father Woolnough spoke to the BBC after the vigil.

Virginia Lewis-Jones, the daughter of Dame Vera Lynn, says Sir David was a passionate supporter of a proposed memorial to the late singer.

"He was really the instigator of the whole thing," Lewis-Jones remembers. "He was the main driving force, he was our leading light if you like."

"He will be really, really sorely missed. We all worked together really, really closely - we became an extended family if you like."

He would "grab it like a terrier" when he committed himself to campaigning on any issue, she adds.

Lewis-Jones tells BBC Breakfast she now hopes Sir David will be remembered in the memorial, which is planned for Dover, in Kent.