British Home Secretary Priti Patel said on Sunday that the government was studying the implementation of police protection for MPs after the terrorist murder of a member of Parliament in his office.
“We need to fill the gaps” in terms of security arrangements around MPs, Patel told SkyNews.
Asked about the establishment of police protection for MPs in their constituencies, the minister said that "all options were currently being considered" and that a "series of measures" had already been put in place since the murder of MP David Amess Friday.
The 69-year-old Conservative MP, who had served 38 years in Parliament, was stabbed to death on Friday in the Methodist church where he received his constituents, in Leigh-on-Sea, about 60 km east of London.
"We have all changed the way we work, due to changing threats in society"
A 25-year-old man was arrested on the spot and the investigation, entrusted to the anti-terrorism department, reveals according to the first elements "a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism". The man arrested is said to be a British national of Somali origin named Ali Harbi Ali, according to the BBC. Oriented several years ago to the volunteer-based program Prevent for people at risk of radicalization, according to the same media, it would not have been very diligent and was never officially a "subject of interest. For the national security agency. Priti Patel pointed out that the Prevent program is currently undergoing an independent review to improve it.
The murder of David Amess shocked the country and recalled the trauma of the assassination of Labor MP Jo Cox in June 2016 by a right-wing extremist.
“A lot has changed” since the murder of MP Jo Cox, said Priti Patel, explaining that it had been “a pretty intense time for MPs” in terms of security measures and that “a lot of work” was required. undertaken since.
"We have all changed the way we work, due to changing threats in society," said Patel, explaining, for example, that MPs asked their constituents more to make appointments in advance for them. meet.
