the lib dem peer lord nigeljones was attacked in his constituency in cheltenham injanuary 2000. by a man with a japanese sword. his assistant andrew pennington died in the attack. lord jones perceived 57 stitches to a wound to his hand, which happened when he tried to grapple the sword away from the man attacking him and andrew pennington. and he spoke to the bbc this evening. i'm horrified by it. he was a lovely man, he did the job to the best of his ability. he was a pal and i'm just devastated that we will never see him again. over 20 years on from the attack in your constituency office on yourself, do you feel more needs to be done to protect mps in these types of situations? well, you can make a case for mp5 because they are in the public eye but it's notjust mps, it's everybody else. shop workers and anybody who comes face—to—face with the public. they can come to grief because there is someone who has some kind of grudge against them or the system, so i wouldn't like to make a special case for mp5. but i think more needs to be done to protect people and to get violence ou

you are a long serving resident of cheltenham before becoming an mp so you knew nitrogen is well.back in 2000. it was very traumatic for all of us who knew nigel and who were friends of andrew. many of us lost a friend and colleague but i think the trauma was very widespread actually. cheltenham is the kind of place, just like southend now, where you expect these things to happen. that is not the kind of place. it isn't just the immediate family but parliamentary staff, his constituency colleagues were traumatised by this. and their friends and family were concerned for them. the ripple effect was a very wide and it was a shocking moment. the news on that occasion came out in dribs and drabs, it wasn't clear what had happened all who had been killed initially. we were in a state of shock.- who had been killed initially. we were in a state of shock. when you took over from _ were in a state of shock. when you took over from that _ were in a state of shock. when you took over from that constituency i were in a state of shock. when you i took over from that constituency and became it

events like the cheltenham racing festival in mid—march, the report adds, may have spread the virus.ecause at the time of the first lockdown, the expectation was that the tolerance in terms of how long people would live with lockdown for was a far shorter period than actually has proven to be the case. the second lockdown came in november. mps say a so—called "circuit—breaker" in england in september might have slowed the virus, though the emergence of a new variant wasn't then known. labour said the report's stark conclusions couldn't be ignored. to use language that this was one of the worst public health failures in the uk, that is a damning indictment. and my thoughts are with the families who've lost people because of these failures. the mps' report is highly critical of the test and trace system in england. it says it was set up much too late and that capacity should've been built up much earlier in the pandemic, in line with some other countries. halting community testing in the early weeks had cost lives, according to the report. just one of the government's failings, said th

events like the cheltenham racing festival in mid—march, the report adds, may have spread the virus.nk there is an issue there of hindsight, because at the time of the first lockdown, the expectation was that the tolerance in terms of how long people would live with lockdown for was a far shorter period than actually has proven to be the case. the second lockdown came in november. mps say a so—called "circuit—breaker" in england in september might have slowed the virus, though the emergence of a new variant wasn't then known. labour said the report's stark conclusions couldn't be ignored. to use language that this . was one of the worst public health failures in the uk, - that is a damning indictment. and my thoughts are with - the families who've lost people because of these failures. the mps' report is highly critical of the test and trace system in england. it says it was set up much too late and that capacity should've been built up much earlier in the pandemic, in line with some other countries. halting community testing in the early weeks had cost lives, according to the report

cheltenham is not the kind of place as i'm sure it is true now where you expect these things to happen colleagues were traumatised by this and their friends and family were also obviously concerned for them. the ripple effect was very wide and it was a shocking moment, and the news on that occasion came out in dribs and drabs, it was not clear exactly what had happened or who had been killed initially. so we were all in a state of shock.— killed initially. so we were all in a state of shock. ~ , ., ., a state of shock. when you took over that constituency _ a state of shock. when you took over that constituency and _ a state of shock. when you took over that constituency and became - a state of shock. when you took over that constituency and became the - a state of shock. when you took over| that constituency and became the mp i mean inevitably security must have been a concern just because of what happened. as you say what happened in the death of a dear friend and serious injuries as well, never mind the mental trauma of what he saw and in losing andrew in the circumstances. did it a

events like the cheltenham racing festival in mid—march, the report adds, may have spread the virus.here of hindsight, because at the time of the first lockdown the expectation was that the tolerance in terms of how long people would live with lockdown for was a far shorter period than actually has proven to be the case. but period than actually has proven to be the case-— period than actually has proven to be the case. but the labour leader said the report's _ be the case. but the labour leader said the report's stock _ be the case. but the labour leader said the report's stock conclusions | said the report's stock conclusions could not be ignored. to said the report's stock conclusions could not be ignored.— could not be ignored. to use language _ could not be ignored. to use language that _ could not be ignored. to use language that this _ could not be ignored. to use language that this was - could not be ignored. to use language that this was one l could not be ignored. to use | language that this was one of could not be ignored. to use - language that this was one of the worst_

the lib dem peer lord nigeljones was attacked in his constituency in cheltenham injanuary 2000.

events like the cheltenham racing festival in mid—march, the report adds, may have spread the virus.here is an issue there of hindsight, because at the time of the first lockdown, the expectation was that the tolerance in terms of how long people would live with lockdown for was a far shorter period than actually has proven to be the case. but the labour leader said the report's stark conclusions couldn't be ignored. to use language that this was one of the worst public health failures in the uk, that is a damning indictment. and my thoughts are with the families who've lost people because of these failures. the mps' report is highly critical of the test and trace system in england. it says it was set up much too late and that capacity should have been built up much earlier in the pandemic, in line with some other countries. halting community testing in the early weeks had cost lives, according to the report. just one of the government's failings, said the former downing street adviser who'd given evidence to mps. me and others put into place work to try and improve the system in 202

gez 0ssai is general manager at wentworth court in cheltenham a care home for people with dementia. ,, ., people's lives, are we where at the time. , ., ~ people's lives, are we where at the time. ., ~ , ., time. take us back to la last year and the conversation _ time. take us back to la last year and the conversation you - time. take us back to la last year and the conversation you are - time. take us back to la last year. and the conversation you are having with your colleagues about what you should do —— early last year, to keep residents and yourself safe. irate keep residents and yourself safe. , made the decision at the end of february, possibly the ist of march we made it official that we lockdown and that was four weeks before the government said that we had to. because we look after a particularly vulnerable sector of individuals, we made that decision that it was in their best interests and we had a duty of care to do so.— duty of care to do so. tells a little bit _ duty of care to do so. tells a little bit more _ duty of care to do so. tells a little bit more about - dut

looking at the figures for cheltenham, stroud, swindon, bath and north east somerset, cheltenham and , ,., .,, things around? whether it is booster “abs or the things around? whether it is booster jabs or the rest _ things around? whether it is booster jabs or the rest of _ things around? whether it is booster jabs or the rest of the _ things around? whether it is booster jabs or the rest of the vaccine - jabs or the rest of the vaccine programme, i jabs or the rest of the vaccine programme, lam jabs or the rest of the vaccine programme, i am afraid it is only very— programme, i am afraid it is only very much— programme, i am afraid it is only very much part of the picture. relying — very much part of the picture. relying on the vaccine programme to kind of— relying on the vaccine programme to kind of take care of the problem is not going — kind of take care of the problem is not going to be a solution, i'm afraid — not going to be a solution, i'm afraid. these vaccines are extremely .ood afraid. these vaccines are extremely good at _ afraid. these vaccines are extremely good at prev

yesterday i spoke to nigeljones, former mp for cheltenham.u, mr speaker. laughter, _ what david would have wanted. thank you, mr speaker. laughter, service, compassion. these are three of the words that spring to mind mind when i think of david amess. laughter, because you could never have a conversation with david without laughter and smiling. whether it was because of one of the outrageous stories he was telling, perhaps about one of his colleagues or somebody else,... laughter there was always smiles, always laughter, always fun around david. service because he had an extraordinary record of dedicated service to his constituents and i suggest to anybody who wants to be a first—class constituency mp, that you look at the example of david amess. he was deeply embedded in his constituency and as we all know, championed it on every possible occasion. i don't think a question or speech from david went by in this house without his constituency being mentioned in. but he did notjust promote his constituency here in the house, he was part of it, h

he's in cheltenham. it became absolutely necessary. i think it became more necessary because of the somewhat haphazard response of the metropolitan police to the whole events. they seemed to be responding as if the whole thing had come as a surprise to them, rather than they had had weeks if not months to be able to prepare their position. so i think that did not help. the metropolitan police in terms of restoring confidence. so that made this announcement today almost inevitable. pare this announcement today almost inevitable. �* , ., this announcement today almost inevitable. . , ., . inevitable. are you confident that the slit, inevitable. are you confident that the split. joe _ inevitable. are you confident that the split, joe focus _ inevitable. are you confident that the split, joe focus of— inevitable. are you confident that the split, joe focus of this - the split, joe focus of this enquiry, one into the events that allowed wayne couzens to continue in his role, despite concerns within the police