Patel insists all options open to boost security
TOUGH new security measures including police guards and airport-style scanners could be used to protect MPs.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said all options were being considered to ramp up safety while they are with constituents.
She said changes were happening immediately but added: “We’re here to serve the public. We will do absolutely everything to enable our elected representatives to carry on.”
It comes as Boris Johnson leads tributes in Parliament today as MPs return toWestminster for the first time since Sir David Amess was killed while holding a constituency surgery.
Ms Patel said discussions were under way with MPs about extra measures to keep them safe from attacks like the one on Friday in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. Each representative is being contacted by their local police.
MPs could also be asked to share their whereabouts at all times with police, she said.
Asked if she would consider airport-style security, Ms Patel told Sky News: “That would be with the police and the House authorities. There are lots of things under consideration already.”
But she added: “This should never, ever break that link between an elected representative and their democratic role, responsibility and duty to the people who elected them.”
She also said ministers could ban anonymity onTwitter and Facebook in a crackdown on social media platforms.
The move would help stop the “cruel and relentless” abuse of MPs and others on internet networking sites. She warned: “We can’t carry on like this.”
It is understood Ms Patel would like to see security for MPs across the country become more standardised and uniform as currently there is a variation Reflecting...Patel on TV yesterday in the level different members decide to take out. At present, most backbench MPs do not have the police protection offered to senior ministers.
Her comments came as the National Police Chiefs’ Council confirmed every parliamentarian will be contacted about their security arrangements in Operation Bridger, established in 2016.
Former prime minister Gordon Brown told Sky News: “It need not be obtrusive, it need not be so obvious, but I think the protection has got to be made available now to MPs who feel that there is a risk to what they are doing. I think that will be introduced in the next few days.”
Meanwhile, Parliament has not renewed its security contract with Chubb. The company was brought in after the murder of Jo Cox in 2016 to install security for MPs when they are not in their offices.
Members have complained of slow service and poor advice, and the company will be replaced by ADT later this year.
After Ms Cox’s killing, MPs were offered panic buttons, extra lighting, additional locks and emergency fobs at their homes and constituency offices.
The cost soared from £170,576 in 2015-16 to £4.5million two years later.
‘We’re here to serve the public, we’ll do everything we can to carry on’