MI5 advises vulnerable MPs to build a safe room at home
Vulnerable MPs and public figures have been advised to set up safe rooms in their homes in case of attack, amid growing fears for the safety of politicians.
The National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), an arm of MI5, has issued updated guidance to high-risk individuals, including MPs, local councilors and foreign dissidents, including advice to set up a “safer area” in which they can seek refuge if their homes are attacked by “hostile actors”.
His advice emerged following Ann Widdecombe’s death, but was posted online before she was killed.
Ms Widdecombe, 78, was found dead at her home in Haytor, Dartmoor, Devon, earlier this month and counter-terrorism police said she was killed in a “targeted attack”.
In advice first reported by the Sunday Times, the NPSA, which has been providing updated advice to high-risk individuals for months, said the room could be a private area or somewhere within a normal room and would need to be fitted with fog machines and bulletproof walls to delay intruders.
They also said indoor lights should be placed on a timed basis to provide the illusion that an empty house is occupied, while bushes outside the property should be cut to eliminate hiding places.
On Tuesday night it emerged that counter-terrorism police were investigating whether the suspect in Ms Widdecombe’s murder was motivated by left-wing extremism and was planning further violence against other high-profile figures.
A 28-year-old white British man arrested in South Yorkshire on Saturday remains in custody. He is being held on suspicion of murder, as well as the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorist acts.
His death sparked a debate about the level of protection given to politicians and people in public life; Senior figures in Reform UK, which the former Tory minister later joined, were complaining that the level of security offered to their party and its leader Nigel Farage was inadequate.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood offered Mr Farage a meeting with the head of the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec), which is responsible for the security of high-profile individuals.
i Paper reports that Mr Farage has been offered a security package including bodyguards, a car and a trained driver similar to that offered to Opposition Leader Kemi Badenoch last year.
However, he turned it down because he thought it was a downgrade from his previous rating.
It came as a Cabinet minister warned politicians face a “horrific” culture of violence that has worsened in recent years.
Treasury chief secretary Lucy Rigby said the increasing threats facing MPs and others in public life was a “sad and disturbing” reality.
