Parliament security to be reviewed by police and authorities

Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, has said security in parliament will be reviewed by the authorities, as he said it was extremely difficult to prevent “lone wolf” terror attacks involving simply a car and knife.

The Metropolitan police and the parliamentary authorities will examine security arrangements on Thursday in the wake of Wednesday’s attack at Westminister. Focus will fall upon Carriage Gates, the vehicle entrance opening on to Parliament Square that is usually used by vehicles bearing ministers and selected staff.

Witnesses said the attacker crashed his car into the estate’s fence before running through Carriage Gates carrying two knives. He is said to have fatally attacked PC Keith Palmer, one of the unarmed officers patrolling near the gates, before being gunned down by armed officers.

Unarmed officers such as PC Palmer act as the public face of parliament at the entrance whose imposing iron gates are the symbol of the estate. They are often seen posing for pictures with tourists keen to take photographs with a clear view of Victoria Tower, known as Big Ben.

Speaking before Theresa May addressed the House of Commons, Michael Fallon stressed that the officer had ensured that the terrorist was unable to breach the security of the House of Commons.

Nevertheless, Fallon suggested it was important to look again at any potential weak spots on the parliamentary estate.

“Parliament cannot be hermetically sealed, people are coming and going all the time,” he said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, pointing out that MPs had been called at that time for a vote in the chamber so people were coming and going through the main gates in cars or on foot.

“Obviously, this is something that will be reviewed by the house authorities,” he added, arguing that Londoners were getting back to work as they took the attack “on the chin”.

“Let me emphasise today, although there is intense security around the Palace of Westminster, London is going to work this morning. I passed schoolchildren going to school, there are school trips going ahead, parliament itself will resume at the normal time at half-past nine. London is getting back to work – London has seen this before and is taking it on the chin,” he said.

It was a message echoed by the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, who said terrorists would not destroy people’s way of life. However, he said there would be additional armed and unarmed officers across the capital, at tubes and train stations in central and outer areas.

Any review will examine procedures at the gates, which are often left unlocked or ajar because they are in frequent use.

Armed officers are usually seen several yards behind the unarmed officers. But just 50 yards beyond them on the other side of New Palace Yard, the green space adjacent to Big Ben, MPs and ministers can be seen frequently walking to and fro from parliament’s offices and the House of Commons chamber.

The dilemma for security forces and the parliamentary authorities has been the same since the building was first established on the banks of the Thames in the 11th century: how to provide safety for democratic institutions without infringing the historic right of the public to turn up and lobby their constituency MP.

There are already airport-style checks at some parliamentary entrances, including those at St Stephen’s Gate and at Portcullis House, the building housing most MPs’ offices. There are no such checks at Carriage Gates.

Some MPs and peers have called for a review of security arrangements and questioned whether an armed presence should now be placed at the front of the Palace of Westminster.

Grant Shapps, the former minister and MP for Welwyn Hatfield, told the Guardian: “We will no doubt review arrangements, and look again at procedures. It is a difficult balancing act, but the safety of police officers and MPs must be the priority.”

Mary Creagh, MP for Wakefield, told the BBC: “I think we will need to look at security at the Palace [of Westminster] in the wake of this incident, but that is a plan for another day.”

Jess Phillips, the chair of the women’s parliamentary Labour party (PLP), said the group had met a day before with the deputy speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, and the head of security in parliament to talk about safety.

“The feeling in the room was very much that we felt safe on the estate – we had more concerns about random attacks in our constituency. During the attack the very next day the security was tested and the feeling of all the MPs inside and outside the building was that still we felt safe,” she said.

Phillips described the “calm, professional but forceful way the doorkeepers, security staff and police handled the situation” to keep staff, MPs and visiting schools and guests safe.

“Today we will attend a statement to honour Keith Palmer, but to honour him and the sacrifice he made for us we will keep going to our constituency meetings and parliamentary debates.”

Yvette Cooper, the chair of the home affairs select committee, said on the Today programme that a full assessment of whether security in Westminster was working needed to be left to the police and security experts, “but certainly I think they prevented someone who wanted to attack parliament from doing so. This is the kind of event that they had planned and prepared for, and did immense work and showed immense professionalism as a result. I think it’s for the experts to do the review of the security and not for MPs to second guess at this stage”.

Any review could be led by Eric Hepburn, the parliamentary security director, who is responsible for security for both houses, working in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Service, which provides armed and unarmed policing for parliament.

Others who might be involved include John Bercow, the Speaker and the highest authority of the House of Commons, Kamal El-Hajji, the serjeant at arms, who is responsible for keeping order in the Commons, David Beamish, the clerk of the parliaments, and Lord Fowler, the current Lord Speaker.