Sir David Amess: MP's caseworker calls for stab vests after killing

Sir David Amess was fatally stabbed at a constituency surgery on Friday

A caseworker for a former party leader is calling for stab vests to be issued to MPs and their staff.

Speaking in the wake of the killing of MP Sir David Amess, Jude Godden, who has worked for Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron for six years, said: "At times you don't feel safe."

The death has prompted many other MPs to open up about their security fears.

Ms Godden said "nothing prepared her" for the abuse she would see working for ex-Lib Dem leader Mr Farron.

She told BBC Radio 5 Live she first raised the issue of stab vests after the murder of MP Jo Cox in 2016 with the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) but nothing came of it.

She said decision makers in London were "not in touch" with the types of venues used by MPs to hold their regular constituency surgeries in, such as community centres, village halls and churches.

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron was Liberal Democrat leader from 2015 to 2017

"I think every MP's office should be issued with stab vests," Ms Godden said, adding: "If anybody is going to be attacked it's most likely to be a knife attack."

Ms Godden said there was an "open door policy" for constituents at Mr Farron's Kendal office but "you never known what kind of mood someone is going to be in".

She said: "People can be very angry, intimidating.

"When you dial that down, the anger can be a manifestation of how upset they are or how desperate, because when you come to an MP in most cases you are desperate with the problem you are facing. So it can come across very threatening."

Ms Godden said she and her colleagues had also dealt with "disgraceful and really upsetting" emails, including threats, sent to Mr Farron from "faceless keyboard warriors".

'Very accessible'

The abuse "ebbs and flows depending on the political focus" at the time, she said.

Since the attack on Sir David, Mr Farron's office had received many messages of support which "really restores your faith", Ms Godden said.

"Tim would never want to stop seeing people face to face," she said.

"His surgery took place on Saturday as it would normally. However, I arranged a police presence to be there. I don't think Tim would want that to be the norm.

"He is very accessible and he would want to continue that, but it's just trying to be mindful of people being kinder and realising MPs are human."

IPSA has been approached for comment.