Tobias Ellwood, MP Who Tried To Save PC Keith Palmer After Westminster Attack, Receives Privy Council Honour

Hero.

The MP who tried to save the life of a police officer in the Westminster terror attack, has been appointed to the Privy Council in recognition of this heroism.

Tobias Ellwood, a former Territorial Army soldier who lost a brother to a terrorist attack in 2002, performed CPR on PC Keith Palmer after the officer was stabbed by the man who attacked parliament.

Though PC Palmer died, the images of Ellwood’s efforts went viral and became a symbol of the heroic efforts to save lives after the attack.

Tobias Ellwood (centre) fights to save the life of injured PC Keith Palmer on Wednesday
Tobias Ellwood (centre) fights to save the life of injured PC Keith Palmer on Wednesday
PA Wire/PA Images
Ellwood shakes hands with a police officer as he returns to work on Friday
Ellwood shakes hands with a police officer as he returns to work on Friday
Darren Staples / Reuters

On Friday, Downing Street confirmed Ellwood and security minister Ben Wallace would be appointed to the Privy Council in in recognition of their responses to the atrocity.

The council’s members can receive top secret security briefings and can now preface their names with “Right Honourable”. It is mainly made up of senior politicians who advise the monarch.

On Thursday, Theresa May told the House of Commons that Ellwood was “every inch a hero” and deserved to be honoured.

“I was on the scene and as soon as I realised what was going on, I headed towards it,” Ellwood said afterwards.

“I tried to stem the flow of blood and give mouth to mouth while waiting for the medics to arrive but I think he had lost too much blood.

“He had multiple wounds, under the arm and in the back.”

Ellwood was photographed shaking a police officer’s hand as he returned to work.

Rhys Hughes, a police superintendent in Bristol, tweeted simply:

PC Palmer was 48 and survived by his wife and five-year-old daughter.

A fundraiser for his family killed has already received almost hundreds of thousands of pounds, while a Muslim-led crowdfunder for all the victims’ families has received more than £17,000 in a matter of hours.

A message on the crowdfunding page for PC Palmer’s family thanked the almost 20,000 donors for their contributions.

PC Keith Palmer
PC Keith Palmer
PA Wire/PA Images

The investigation into Wednesday’s attack, which left five dead including the assailant, continues.

Ten people were arrested in the 24 hours after the attack and on Friday the Metropolitan Police confirmed six had been released to face no further action.

The probe is trying to establish whether Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old from Kent, acted alone or had accomplices who directed or encouraged him.

He drove a 4X4 into people on Westminster Bridge before crashing into parliament, fatally stabbing PC Palmer. He was shot dead by another officer.

Four people remain in police custody, having been arrested on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts. They are:

A 58-year-old man arrested on the morning of Thursday at an address in Birmingham.

A 27-year-old man arrested late on Thursday at an address in Birmingham.

A 35-year-old man arrested in the early hours of Friday at an address in Manchester.

A 32-year-old woman arrested on the morning of Friday at a location in Manchester.

Earlier, Acting Deputy Commissioner Mark Rowley said: “We named the dead terrorist as Khalid Masood, and as I said, our investigation focuses on understanding his motivation, preparation and his associates.

“Whilst there is no evidence of further threats you will understand our determination to find out if he either acted totally alone inspired by terrorist propaganda or, if others have encouraged, supported or directed him.

“At this point I want to appeal specifically to the public.

“We remain keen to hear from anyone who knew Khalid Masood well; understands who his associates were; and can provide us with information about places he has recently visited

“There might well be people out there who did have concerns about Masood but weren’t sure or didn’t feel comfortable for whatever reason in passing information to us.”

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