Huntingdon train stabbing: Peterborough and Huntingdon MPs give statements in House of Commons following attack
Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes and Huntingdon MP Ben Obese-Jecty spoke in the House of Commons on Monday (November 3) following the tragic events of the weekend.
The MPs addressed the House as well as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who made a statement of her own on Monday.
Monday was also the day that police charged Anthony Williams (32) of Langford Road, Peterborough with 10 counts of attempted murder relating to the incident on board an LNER train at about 7.30pm on Saturday evening.
Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes said: “The names of Peterborough and Huntingdon have flashed up across the news and around the world this weekend because of the terrible events we’ve seen happening on Saturday night.
“I don’t want my constituency to be known just because of the action of one single perpetrator. I would like to pay tribute to the police, train staff, first responders and others that stepped forward when the actions were needed.
“I would also like to pay particular tribute to my own constituent train driver, Andrew Johnson and his ASLEF and RMT colleagues on LNER, who went above and beyond the call of duty on that evening. They show the best of British values and the true face of the county I represent and its people.
“We don’t know all of the information yet but there is great anxiety, in Huntingdon and Peterborough, from many people so I ask my right honourable friends that she can go and move every mile to tackle knife crime and ensure our streets and public transport remain safe for everyone for years to come.”
Mr Obese-Jecty added: “This has been a difficult and challenging weekend for Huntingdon. My thoughts are with the victims of this terrible tragedy, to the LNER crew whose heroic action- placing himself in harm’s way saved lives at the cost of his own safety, to all of the other victims and to those who bore witness to the attacks and will still be processing their own experiences.
“I would like to place on record my praise for the emergency services for their response; to Cambridgeshire Constabulary, whose unarmed response officers and firearms officers who are able to place Anthony Williams in custody within eight minutes of receiving the 999 call. To Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, our air ambulance services and to the East of England Ambulance Trust for their incident response and for getting the casualties to Addenbrooke’s Hospital. Also to the train driver Andrew Johnson and to signalling staff, whose speed of thought in moving the train to the suburban line from the high speed line to ensure that the train could make the unscheduled stop at Huntingdon; a decision that curtailed the attack by several crucial minutes and allowed the police to apprehend the suspect and undoubtedly saved lives.
“The swift action of all those involved prevented a horrific attack from being far, far worse. I am sure that the Home Secretary and the whole house would wish to share in my sympathies for those impacted by this horrific attack and my pride in the conduct, leadership and professionalism of the responders and railway staff.”
He stated: “It should also be noted that whilst Cambridgeshire is the fastest growing county, Cambridgeshire Constabulary is the fourth worst funded of our 43 police forces.
“I’ve raised this directly with the Home Office on multiple occasions and last year held an entire debate on it.
“Until the Government address the Police Allocation Formula and give forces like Cambridgeshire the funding it needs they will continue to be under-resourced.”