THE scenes of the men in frock coats chasing the men in T-shirts across the floor of the Commons chamber yesterday sounded the death-knell for an antiquated security system.
The perimeters of the Palace of Westminster are guarded by armed police with Heckler and Koch carbines and concrete blocks to stop suicide bombers. But inside, the Serjeant of Arms, Sir Michael Cummins, a 64-year-old former officer in the Royal Dragoon Guards, is master.
He has 33 doorkeepers at his command, many of them former army sergeants and naval petty officers, and liaises with Sir John Stevens, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. Peter Hain, the Leader of the Commons, oversees the organisation of the Commons arrangements.
Scotland Yard provides SO19, a unit of 150 armed officers, to guard the area, but police have privately complained about the difficulties of balancing security arrangements with the traditions of Parliament and the need to keep its operations as public as possible.
Even the positioning of the concrete blocks outside Parliament last year involved lengthy negotations over their exact locations.
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The writing has been on the wall for the security arrangements since May this year when campaigners for Fathers 4 Justice threw purple powder at Tony Blair as he was speaking in the Commons. A review was instigated by Eliza Manningham-Buller, the director-general of MI5, and Sir John. It is due to be completed shortly.
They have talked about extreme measures including closing roads around Parliament and Whitehall and putting up an electronic fence around the Parliament buildings.
These were decided to be unworkable and police sources suggest that the measures would be more likely to include a series of concentric defences, including better security fencing, more closed-circuit television, covert and overt patrols inside the buildings. There could also be greater restrictions on visitors coming into the buildings.
Sir Michael, who came in for criticism yesterday from MPs, is due to retire at the end of December after 23 years at the Commons. He arrived in 1981.
His replacement is to be Major General Peter Grant Peterkin, a former commanding officer of the Army’s 5th Division, who retired in January from his final post as military secretary of the Army Personnel Centre.
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He was chosen, among other reasons, to bring up-to-date knowledge of security matters.
One of his previous postings was as managing director to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe mission to Kosovo. He should inherit a new and tougher regime in the aftermath of yesterday’s events.
There are concerns that, four days after the latest anniversary of the World Trade Centre attacks, Parliament remains a world apart.
Disquiet was expressed earlier this year that the Commons would be sitting in September while building work was under way but the House never the less returned. It emerged last night that the areas where work was under way were used by the protesters, raising questions over how alert the current security operation is. The corridors of the Commons are patrolled and watched by uniformed officers and anyone moving from a public area should be challenged for their Commons passes.