It has been a long time since the House of Commons has been overwhelmed by a mood of such profound grief and shock.
The atmosphere in the chamber – so often rowdy, raucous and ill-tempered – was one of sheer numbness as Yvette Cooper delivered her sombre statement on the Southport stabbings.
Over the years, the Commons has heard many shocking statements on terrible terrorist atrocities such as the Brighton bombing in the UK, hideous massacres abroad and other terrible crimes.
But what seemed to leave MPs stunned into silence and disbelief this time was the tender young ages – six, seven and nine – of the innocent victims in Southport. Many MPs were moved to tears.
All three children killed in attack named; follow Southport latest
MPs united in grief and shock
Indeed, throughout her statement, the voice of the home secretary, who earlier in the day had visited Southport and spoken to many of those caught up in the horror, appeared to be trembling.
Towards the end of the exchanges, DUP MP Jim Shannon, normally one of the most affable and cheerful MPs in the House, struggled to finish his plea for children’s safety before his voice gave way.
“We share his emotion,” the home secretary told him sympathetically, prompting the usually confrontational Lee Anderson of Reform UK to pay tribute to her for having “carried herself with great dignity”.
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In her opening statement, Ms Cooper said the investigation was being supported by counter-terror police and would pursue “any contact the suspect may or may not have had with different agencies” beforehand.
But after Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle had warned MPs to be careful about what they said, that was as far as she went on the police investigation.
However, both Ms Cooper and her Tory predecessor James Cleverly, now shadow home secretary, hit out at social media companies.
She urged them not to “spread damaging misinformation online”.
Mr Cleverly criticised “speculation and gossip” and spoke of his discussions with social media firms about their responsibilities.
An almost eerie House of Commons
Then, at the very end of the exchanges, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urged the government to “challenge the whole knife culture on the streets, that carrying a knife is a good and cool thing to do”.
Her voice still apparently trembling with emotion, the home secretary politely told him that argument was for another today and this day was all about the young victims and those grieving their loss. How right she was.
And so, after a bruising election campaign, the frantic pace set by a new government and a House of Commons full of hundreds of new MPs, no one could have predicted MPs would be leaving Westminster for their summer break numb with grief like this.
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It may have been a highly emotional and at times tearful half-hour – and the silence on the benches on both sides of the chamber throughout the exchanges was almost eerie.
But after her visit to Southport only hours earlier, the home secretary’s statement was greatly appreciated.
And she deserves great credit for conveying to MPs the grief of the people of Southport in such a calm, measured and dignified way.
