Tearful MP recounts moment he tried to save Keith Palmer after Westminster attack

An MP broke down on television as he recalled the moment he tried to save the life of police officer Keith Palmer, who was stabbed in the Westminster terror attack a year ago.

Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood fought back tears as he talked about comforting his young son after he had tried in vain to save Palmer in the Palace of Westminster on 22 March last year.

Ellwood was in parliament when Khalid Masood ran over and killed four pedestrians before stabbing Palmer as he stood guard in a terrorist attack.

“A vivid image I have is returning home and finding my son at the top of the stairs and he was in tears … and … he could not understand why someone was yielding a knife in a place he’d visited many times. All I could offer was that there are some bad people in the world, but there are a lot more good people and it’s the good people who win,” he told BBC Breakfast.

The defence minister said the UK was going through a “dark chapter”. He said the threats faced by the UK were not going away and involved not just terrorism but “resurgent nations challenging the world order”.

Ellwood, who has lobbied within government for extra funding for the armed forces, said: “These attacks will continue unless we step forward and actually participate, become more pro-active in dealing with what is a very changing and dark chapter that we are enduring.”

On Thursday, Palmer was praised by a friend and colleague Shaun Cartwright. In a statement released through Scotland Yard, he said: “Keith loved being a police officer. He just wanted to help people and do his best … He was a proud and courageous police officer who did his job and never wanted any fuss or to be the centre of attention.”

Senior officers will attend private memorial services on Thursday to mark the first anniversary of the atrocity.

Palmer’s name will be one of 1,400 inscribed on a UK police memorial being built in Staffordshire, commemorating officers who were killed on duty.

MPs observed a minute’s silence to mark the first anniversary of the Westminster terror attack. The Speaker, John Bercow, asked members in the House of Commons chamber to pause “in respectful memory” of those who died.

MPs from different parties stood together to pay their respects before digital, culture, media and sport questions.

The culture secretary, Matt Hancock, said: “I’m sure the whole house will want to associate ourselves to mark the memory of those who passed away a year ago, as we have just noted in the one minute’s silence, and to thank once more the emergency services who keep us safe and, especially on this day, those who put others’ safety ahead of their own.

“We remember those who have lost their lives defending democracy. They will not be forgotten.”

The home secretary, Amber Rudd, and the leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom, will attend a commemorative event in Westminster Hall on Thursday to mark the anniversary.

The hashtag “LondonUnited” will be projected on to the Houses of Parliament on Thursday.

A 3D installation of LondonUnited will also be located at City Hall, where the public will be able to pay their respects and sign a “digital book of hope”.