Pre meditated murderers should face 50 years in jail, particularly if they kill MPs

The conviction of Ali Harbi Ali for the murder of Sir David Amess MP has been an example of swift justice.

Sir David, who represented Southend West in Parliament, was attacked at his constituency surgery in Essex on October 15 last.

The jury’s verdict came before the six month mark after the date of killing had been reached.

Admittedly the criminal justice process was sped up by the fact that Ali admitted the murder.

The jury reached its conclusion within 18 minutes.

Ali, 26, is an Islamic State extremist from Somalia.

He carried out research into other MPs including the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, and the cabinet minister Michael Gove, whose west London home he staked out six times, taking detailed notes.

Muslim fanatics such as Ali typically kill themselves as part of, our after, a heinous attack on someone.

Ali did not do that but said he has no regrets.

While this conviction is welcome, it is likely that he will face a sentence woefully inadequate to the offence.

For more than 50 years, life sentences in the UK have typically meant less than 15 years served behind bars.

In recent years this has edged up so that lifers in the worst murders are now usually given a tariff (minimum term) of 20 years or more. But that is still not enough.

A murder as pre-meditated and wicked as that of Sir David should attract at least 50 years in prison so that most of the rest of the life of the perpetrator is hampered.

While society has moved beyond the death penalty, that does not mean it should be soft on the worst offenders – those who deliberately take the life of a another person, with no mitigating factor such as the perpetrator being mentally ill.

Killing an MP should mean serving if anything even more time. What a pity that the IRA terrorists who murdered MPs did not face such jail-time, or in most cases even conviction.