British Members Of Parliament Security Concerns

I'm feeling very concerned by the 'under siege' mentality of our MP's. This state of mind was graphically illustrated to me a few days ago.

I had been in the Forest of Dean and I was still dressed in my forest clothes, a mish-mash of army surplus and hunter's camo topped off with a cheap, oversized padded jacket. With the straggly long hair and all I must have looked like a crazed urban revolutionary suicide bomber.

I called in at a small co-op for an apple, a loaf of bread and a newspaper. I'd noticed the local MP with a group of people on the other side of the road as I entered the shop. I looked at him rather hard as I recalled how he'd helped a friend and her child who were in danger.

The District Council were trying to cover up their own corruption and the cover-up left these vulnerable people in a life threatening situation. We made an appointment to see the MP. He grasped the complicated problem swiftly and instructed his team to act. The next day there was a huffy phone call from the council, "You went to see your MP!" Shortly after that the dangerous situation was resolved.

His sterling performance was what I had in mind during this recent encounter.

When I left the shop the doors opened, and there was the MP walking in. Seeing me, the crazed urban revolutionary suicide bomber look-alike, he hesitated for a split second, then he drew himself up, puffed out his chest, and headed straight towards me. It was clear he wondered if I was about to attack him and he has obviously decided to power into anyone who does.

'It is important that we take their security, and that of their families and their staff, very seriously'

www.independent.co.uk...

What can we do to help our MP's achieve a more secure state of mind?

a reply to: Kester
At least he didn't run away, and he didn't launch his security guards against you. Would those reactions have been better?

'What can we do to help our MPs achieve a more secure state of mind' ?

I'd suggest only electing non-corrupt persons who didn't fiddle their expenses or engage in illegal activities. That might give them less to worry about in terms of dealing with disgruntled members of the public.

As for your (very good) local MP - perhaps a smile and a cheery 'good day' might have been the right approach.

Well it shows your local MP won't ever turn tail and run

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: Kester
At least he didn't run away, and he didn't launch his security guards against you. Would those reactions have been better?

I agree, what strikes me about the story is how little the MP is described to react. Can you imagine a similar scenario in most other countries at the moment?

I think that there is some perfectly legitimate security concerns for MPs and I hope that we can keep a good balance between their personal safety and accessibility.

I did a stint at the local council for a good few years and one thing i found was the long term politicians were good at reading people straight away and would change their manner in moments depending on the person in front of them.

Also having worked in the family shop its generally not the biggest and most obvious people who are the threat but those who just blend into the background.

Like most people he spent a moment to look you up and and down and could tell by body posture, looking at your eyes etc that you were no trouble and then flipped into PR mode and everything was happy.

a reply to: DISRAELI

I was pleased to see what seemed to be a willingness to stand up for himself. Multiple uniformed military men were only seconds away, it being the end of a Remembrance Day service. He could have stopped if he wanted to keep a distance, he chose to rapidly close the gap.

When our MP's feel secure we can easily approach them. At the moment they are feeling vulnerable.

a reply to: berenike

He was looking grim after attending the remembrance service and whatever conversations he had after the service. I was looking similarly serious for multiple reasons. Almost any other time a smile at least would be in order, and a thank you for your help.

a reply to: Whereismypassword

I agree.

a reply to: Kester

Wouldn't the reaction of the MP be the same as that of any bloke faced with a crazed urban revolutionary suicide bomber walking toward them ?
I suppose with the murder of Jo Cox fresh in everyone's mind and the general unpopularity of politicians his reaction is understandable.

What can we do to help our MP's achieve a more secure state of mind?

I don't think we can do much , they need to raise their game and win back our trust.

a reply to: gortex

The Jo Cox story has obviously had an effect. In truth any of us could get killed by a nutcase anytime.

The alleged killer has been called jackass, tool and smack-tard by ATS members judging him on his gun. www.abovetopsecret.com... I wouldn't want to go into the gory details but it sounds like it was largely ineffective as a murder weapon.

He may be such a loon his motives have little to do with it, he might have done the same thing over being short changed. Or he may be a motivated person to be taken seriously who happened to have a rifle and so cut it down.

I'm more likely to suspect it's another psy-op with the choice of gun aimed at introducing more control over fox and rabbit guns. He seems a likely subject for mind control and was known to take lone walks at odd times of day. He could easily have met a handler on his walks.

Whatever the truth is behind the Jo Cox story the effect is to unsettle MP's. If the official story is true the man is simply a nut. My friends Grandma was fatally stabbed by an elderly woman with mental health issues while she was asleep on holiday. It can happen to anyone at any time.

I believe it's more likely that any MP could be murdered by the system in order to scare the others, much like the Sydney Hilton Bombing was used to scare the heads of state who were in the Hilton at the time. I'm related to the Hilton Bomber so I know the official story there is the biggest crock ever.



Interesting. I was thinking of what we could do to reassure them. You're suggesting they earn a bit more respect. I think we're both right.