'Perhaps they are not very intelligent': Daughter of murdered MP David Amess speaks out against Kneecap 'kill MPs' comment

Katie Amess was speaking after footage emerged showing one of its members calling for people to kill Tory MPs.

In it, a member of the group says: "We’re still under British occupation in Ireland. We still have old men in London making decisions that affect my life in Ireland – and even worse, they're f***ing Tories.

“The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”

This comes after footage emerged last week showing member Mo Chara draped in the assault rifle flag of Hezbollah, telling a crowd: "Tiocfaidh ar la, up Hamas, up Hezbollah".

David Amess, MP for Southend West, was stabbed to death in 2021 by a British-Somali attacker who was inspired by ISIS and was angered by (among other things) Sir David’s decision to vote in favour of anti-ISIS airstrikes in Syria.

Daughter Ms Amess told the BBC show Good Morning Ulster today: "I think that they should take a good long hard look in the mirror and realise that my family and my life has been destroyed.

"I will never, ever be the same again, and we lost a wonderful man, a wonderful parliamentarian, and they could only hope to be as good a person as he is.

I think when they hear these words from me I have hope they're going to say they're sorry, they didn't think it through."

She said she had seen the footage on Twitter and "was just absolutely gobsmacked at the stupidity of somebody, or a group of people, being in the public eye and saying such dangerous, violent rhetoric".

"It's just beyond belief that human beings would speak like that in this day and age," she added.

"It's extremely dangerous and is deeply upsetting and hurtful to my family and other victims who have been killed because of their beliefs.

"My dad did nothing wrong. My dad did absolutely nothing wrong. He worked for 38 years to support people in his local community, disabled people, people under the poverty line, people that were victims of crime, people of all nationalities, all races, all religions, all creeds, all colours – and he was killed.

"So to hear people demanding that other MPs lose their life because they vote a certain way is just heartbreaking and it left me deeply, deeply upset to say the least.

"To say to kill anybody, what on Earth are they thinking? A Tory MP, a Labour MP, a plumber, a hairdresser – what on Earth are they thinking as a group that has a public platform and a voice (and they could be using this for good and to create peace and love in the world), to incite violence and murder is just unforgiveable.

"Perhaps they're not very intelligent. Because an intelligent person would not call for murder. It is a crime. It's illegal. And we will not stand for it.

"I'd never heard of this group before. It's probably a campaign to get more famous, and I guess congratulations to them, 'cause it's worked, and now I'm here talking to you about it. But it's embarrassing for them to think they can spout this rhetoric and that's a good way to live."

The same show on which she was speaking, Good Morning Ulster, has previously run positive coverage of Kneecap.

A segment last August featured interviews with band members and clips from the band’s newly-released self-titled autobiographical film (made with £1.6m of UK public money).

The BBC narrator mentioned Kneecap's “controversial” image, “nationalist politics” and “provocative approach” – but there was no mention of why they are “provocative” or “controversial”.

At one point in the broadcast, actress Jess Reynolds said of the group “they were just the sweetest people ever – they're so vocal in what they believe in but they’re softies as well, they're so open to everyone and so lovely”.

Earlier, the show had also featured an interview with Rich Peppiatt, the director of the movie. Friendly and light-hearted in tone, afterwards the host said: “Pleasure to have you on the programme, massive best of luck with all of it.” “I'll get my tickets!” her colleague chimed in.