Michael Gove has narrated this article for you to listen to.
Reason, David Hume noted, is a slave of the passions. Arguments, especially political crusades, are often rooted in emotional responses, with the evidence assembled to justify a position which is heartfelt but often wrongheaded.
So it is with the cry, from politicians, for more steps to be taken to safeguard the personal security of politicians. The killing of Ann Widdecombe, like the deaths of Jo Cox and David Amess, has generated new demands for action, and legislation, to protect those in public life from risk and danger. The transparent nobility of Ann’s life and the grotesque tragedy of her death make it emotionally difficult to resist the call for strengthened perimeters around our politicians. But someone has to stand out against a tide which, unless resisted, will lead to increased public expenditure, weaker protections for the majority of citizens, further impairment of our democracy and the erosion of basic liberties. So I will.
To provide state protection for any individual requires at least ten trained police officers full time
The case I will make rests on logic. But let me throw some emotion into the mix to start with. For those who will, inevitably, accuse me of insensitivity, I was the prime target for the killer who went on to murder David Amess. The Islamist extremist Ali Harbi Ali hunted me for weeks. He was outside my home, armed with a blade and determined to kill, on six separate occasions. All this only became apparent after David was killed and Ali’s phone was in police hands. I grieve for David’s family’s loss and feel guilt to this day that he was killed because Ali failed to encounter me.
