Security co-ordinator for Westminster
The Houses of Parliament are likely to get a dedicated security co-ordinator.
The Commons authorities’ agreement to the move in principle was announced in a written answer to the House this afternoon, according to the BBC.
This year has seen a number of embarrassing breaches of Commons security. In March two Greenpeace protestors managed to scale Big Ben as part of an anti-war protest, then in May the Prime Minister was pelted with purple flour bombs by Fathers 4 Justice protesters during Prime Minister’s Question Time – despite a £600,000 security screen being installed in the Commons at Easter.
Though there was a security review and security was meant to have been stepped up, during the key anti-hunting debate in September, a group of hunt protestors managed to break into the House of Commons chamber itself.
Only a day after that protest, the Sun revealed that one of its reporters had managed to get a job as a catering assistant and had smuggled a fake bomb into the Parliament.
Though none of the breaches caused any injury, there was widespread concern about what could have happened if terrorists had been involved.
After the breaches, both the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, and the Leader of the House, Peter Hain, called on Parliament to hand responsibility for security over to a modern professional operation.
Traditionally, Parliament has been responsible for its own security, which has been run by the Serjeant-at-Arms and his staff – the so-called men in tights.
