Jewish MPs mull security boost after Amess killing
JEWISH MEMBERS of Parliament have said they are considering improving their security following the murder of Sir David Amess.
Sir David had served as Honorary Secretary of the Conservative Friends of Israel. Jonathan Djangoly, MP for Huntingdon, said the death of Sir David “brought home the fragility of MPs’ security arrangements”.
He told the JC he was “always, not least in the context of Sir David’s killing” looking at improving security. “The issue of trolling and copycattype security threats has been significantly heightened through the use and abuse of social media,” he added.
Ali Harbi Ali, 25, has been charged with Sir David’s murder, and is due to face trial next year.
Robert Halfon, MP for Harlow in Essex, is “certainly considering” the use of security guards to protect his constituency surgery, his staff told the JC.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told Sky News the government was “likely to look at things like private security guards... there’s already money available for that.”
Rejecting the use of police to guard politicians, he said he would not want plainclothes officers outside his office as he did not want “a wedge but between me and the people who elected me”.
The MP, whose father was Jewish, spoke of threats to “life and limb” he has received that necessitated police protection.
Talking to BBC Breakfast, he said: “There will be people who have worse abuse than me, and I particularly feel for the female MPs, and I know colleagues of mine who have come off, for example, Twitter because it’s just so vile.”