Britain considers ways to boost security of lawmakers


FE Team | Published: October 17, 2021 21:38:17 | Updated: October 20, 2021 21:05:39


Chief Constable of Essex Police B. J. Harrington, Britain's Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Speaker of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle and Home Secretary Priti Patel hold flowers as they arrive at the scene where British MP David Amess was stabbed to death during a meeting with constituents at the Belfairs Methodist Church, in Leigh-on-Sea, Britain, on Saturday. –Reuters file photo

Britain is considering a number of options to boost the security of lawmakers after a parliament member was stabbed to death during a meeting with constituents, interior minister Priti Patel said on Sunday.

The killing of David Amess, from Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party, took place five years after the murder of Jo Cox, a lawmaker from the opposition Labour Party, and has prompted a review of politicians' security, reports Reuters.

Amess, 69, was knifed repeatedly in the attack on Friday in Leigh-on-Sea, east of London, during a meeting in a church.

Police arrested a 25-year-old British man at the scene on suspicion of murder and have said it is believed he acted alone.

"The speaker has already put in a range of measures post-Friday as we have with policing," Patel told Sky News.

"Within that, there are other options that are being considered such as when you hold your surgeries, could you have officers or some kind of protection...?" she said.

Surgeries is the term given to meetings British lawmakers have with their constituents.

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