Hain demands inquiry into Big Ben protest
The leader of the Commons, Peter Hain, has called for an urgent investigation into how two Greenpeace protesters managed to scale Big Ben.
The two anti-war demonstrators, Harry Westaway, 26, and brother Simon, 24, from Lewes, evaded security at Westminster and scaled 315ft St Stephen’s Tower to mark the first anniversary of the war in Iraq. The pair unfurled a banner saying “Time for Truth”, but came down after seven hours due to strong winds.
Mr Hain revealed that he and the Commons Speaker, Michael Martin, had been holding talks with MI5 and the Metropolitan police about security measures around Westminster.
“It’s a huge embarrassment, both to the house authorities and the policing arrangement,” Mr Hain told BBC1’s Breakfast with Frost. “Twenty or 30 years ago an audacious protest like that by Greenpeace would have been seen for exactly that.
“But what if these had been suicide bombers? So I’m very disturbed about it and I want an urgent report, as leader of the Commons, about how it happened.”
A police spokesman said the two protesters had been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage. They were bailed to appear at a central London police station at a later date.
Both protesters described overcoming Parliament’s defences as “easy”. In a statement yesterday Harry Westaway said: “I just hope people recognised we just wanted to make a statement about the war and not about security.”
Mr Hain explained that he had been concerned about Westminster security since taking up his position.
Metropolitan Police Commander Brian Paddick has announced there will be an “automatic review” of security, but stressed that there was never any question of the two men getting inside the Palace of Westminster. He added that the alarms were triggered as they should have been when the men first climbed the fence.
Tory defence spokesman Keith Simpson said the incident was a “dangerous embarrassment” for Parliament and the police, while Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten said it raised “obvious questions on security”.
Ministers already plan to introduce a bullet and blast-proof glass shield in front of the Strangers’ Gallery and concrete blocks were placed outside Westminster last summer to foil potential car bomb attacks.
