HERO MP Tobias Ellwood, who battled to save the life of PC Keith Palmer in the Westminster terror attack, has been honoured by the Queen in recognition of his role in responding to the atrocity, it has been announced.
The Tory foreign minister was praised as an “absolute hero” after he tried to save the life of the policeman stabbed in the Parliament attack.
Downing Street last night announced that the Queen was “pleased” to approve the appointment of Mr Ellwood and Security minister Ben Wallace to the Privy Council.
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Mr Ellwood, a Foreign Office minister, ran towards gunfire to help PC Keith Palmer, who was stabbed in the attack, while Mr Wallace helped co-ordinate the Government’s response.
The pair will now be entitled to be referred to as Right Honourable and receive top-secret national security briefings as members of the Privy Council.
It is mainly composed of senior politicians, but includes some
bishops and judges, and has advised the monarch since the Norman era.
Prime Minister Theresa May praised the “extraordinary” bravery of Mr Ellwood in her House of Commons statement on Thursday.
The Bournemouth East MP’s bravery was praised by many colleagues, who had gathered in the Commons chamber to listen and respond to Mrs May’s statement on the terror attack.
A former soldier himself, he attended to PC Palmer as he awaited medical staff and an air ambulance to arrive in Parliament Square.
He attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and applied pressure on the wounds to stem the blood flow to keep him alive but said he had “lost too much blood”.
The MP was later seen with bloodied hands talking to police officers near the scene before going back to the Foreign Office. MPs from across the political spectrum praised him as a “hero”.
But Mr Ellwood, whose brother Jonathan was killed in the 2002 Bali terrorist bombing, shook his head as a fellow MP called for
him to be recognised in the honours list.
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A Government spokesman said their appointments were “in recognition of their service as ministers and the roles both have played in responding to this week’s terrorist attack”.
Mr Ellwood has been Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office since July 2014, covering the Middle East and Africa brief. Scot Ben Wallace is MP for Wyre and Preston North.
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