Yesterday’s attacker was three unlocked doors away from the Prime Minister and would have had a free run at the House of Commons and its two voting lobbies had he not been shot by Michael Fallon’s SO1 officer. Guido has spoken to several parliamentary sources who have corroborated the following:
1. Had the attacker not been shot, and if he knew where to go, he could have turned right into the Members’ Entrance. This Entrance is usually patrolled by armed police and guarded by an unarmed doorkeeper. No armed police officers were there at the time of the attack. Had Fallon not been in the building, his security detail would not have been there either.
2. Once through the Member’s Entrance, the attacker would have found a likely empty corridor. He could have followed the route marked in red, passing through three unlocked doors until he reached the Members’ Lobby. A parliamentary source says: “There are no physical obstacles along this route. It is used by Cabinet members because they don’t encounter members of the public and can immediately vote and quickly leave”. There are no locked doors and he would not have needed a pass to reach a large number of MPs.
3. From Members’ Lobby he could have made it to the Commons voting lobbies, where Theresa May and other MPs were gathered at the time of the attack. There are no armed police protecting this route, only doorkeepers.
Yesterday’s attacker was yards away from the Prime Minister, ministers and other MPs. Had Fallon’s SO1 officer not been in the right place at the right time, he would have had a free run. A parliamentary source says: “If this was an elite terrorist with an automatic gun and a floor plan he could have wiped out many MPs”. This security angle is currently causing huge concern on the parliamentary estate…
UPDATE: An MP with military experience has written to the parliamentary authorities to alert them to the lack of security for MPs during Commons votes. He tells Guido the attacker was dangerously close to the Prime Minister as she voted yesterday. And he has told the authorities that MPs are most at threat from terror attacks when there is a division, as large numbers of MPs are walking towards the Commons at the same time, with relatively little protection. This was the case yesterday when, as you can see above, the attacker was yards away from dozens of MPs and even the PM.
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