Panic alarms given to all new MPs over security fears

Every new MP has been given a panic alarm as they face unprecedented levels of abuse and threats to their safety.

The devices have been supplied as part of Commons ‘welcome packs’ for the first time, as officials beef up security measures for politicians increasingly facing intimidation and death threats.

One veteran MP told The Mail on Sunday: ‘There is an assumption that there’s a level of risk for all parliamentarians that never existed before.’ The pocket alarms contain GPS trackers and, when activated, alert the police who can despatch a rapid response unit.

They have been available to all MPs on request since the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox in 2016. Now they have been automatically handed to the 335 new MPs who entered Parliament after an election campaign marred by menacing behaviour.

It also comes as America reels from the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and as senior Westminster politicians have spoken out against the ‘worst’ threat level they have ever seen. 

Labour MP Naz Shah told this newspaper: ‘Never before did I think I would be physically attacked like I did on this campaign. It was pure hooliganism. They were young angry men.’

Abuse reported by candidates and volunteers included death threats, being sworn and spat at and being followed and intimidated in the street.

Earlier this year, the Home Office announced a £31 million package of measures to counter the threat to MPs’ security and Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle this month said he has ‘never seen anything as bad’ as the present threat level. 

‘If there’s something that keeps me awake at night, it is the safety of MPs,’ he added.

On being given their alarm, one new parliamentarian praised the measures and said: ‘The Speaker is putting much more emphasis on MPs’ safety than ever before.’

The devices – which are understood to contain unique codes to identify which MP triggers them – were handed out during induction sessions last week, with demonstrations on how to use them.

New MPs who did not attend were given alarms as part of their welcome packs, along with their laptops and introductory information.

One source said: ‘It’s a good idea to give them with the pack. Otherwise they say they don’t want them, then realise they do need them.’

During the campaign, all candidates – not just sitting MPs – were offered a named police officer to be their direct point of contact for the first time in case of threats.

Speaking of the ‘awful’ intimidation and hatred she received while campaigning in Bradford West, Ms Shah, 50, said: ‘Never have I seen an election like this. I had intimidation from [George] Galloway’s lot in 2015, but never did I feel a threat to my personal safety before.’

She said the Gaza issue inflamed tensions. Despite being a long-term vocal supporter of Palestine, she was abused over Labour’s more equivocal stance on the conflict. 

While leafletting, a man filmed her for over five minutes as he abused her, shouting: ‘You dirty, dirty Zionist, you had your chance, love. I am gonna follow you around until you get the f*** out of this area. You are a continuation of the Zionist plot. How many Gazan babies need to die for Naz Shah’s career?’

Ms Shah said that on other occasions her canvassers were threatened with physical violence, adding: ‘We would have people telling my volunteers, ‘we’ll set the dogs on you’, or ‘we’ll get the boys out if you don’t get out of here’.’

Days before the election, she said she received a death threat on her TikTok account, which she reported to police.

Nusrat Ghani, the Tory MP for Sussex Weald who is running to be elected Deputy Speaker this week, said: ‘This election saw a whole new level of intimidation and threats. 

Writing in The Mail on Sunday, she says: ‘I worry for women in particular, because female candidates, campaigners and activists are targeted more.

‘There is no doubt that there are people who are misogynistic and aggressive, who simply do not want women in these spaces. That is their aim and they are willing to use threats of violence to achieve it. And we can’t let them win.’

One senior woman in Parliament, who did not wish to be named, said she was told to ‘stop campaigning, or else’ during the campaign.

And Housing Minister Rushanara Ali had two Home Office-funded bodyguards while campaigning after being targeted by pro-Gaza activists.

Labour’s Khalid Mahmood, who lost his seat in Birmingham Perry Barr to an independent, said his volunteers had leaflets snatched from their hands by pro-Palestinian activists, while others were shoved in the street by men.

He told the MoS some volunteers quit after the incident, fearing for their safety and that he faced a daily torrent of abuse on social media where users would abuse him in their native Punjabi and Urdu. He complained to the police about one social media user who abused him persistently.

The Home Office’s £31 million initiative to bolster security came after a review led by the then Security Minister Tom Tugendhat. He said: ‘Democracy only works if people are free to make arguments and speak out. We need our candidates to be free from intimidation or fear. 

‘Thanks to the measures we put in place candidates at this election were offered an unprecedented level of protection and support.’

But some MPs say they still do not get enough help. One prominent politician said the panic alarms ‘are not brilliant, to be honest’, while another said: ‘The problem with a panic alarm is that by the time you press it, it’s probably too late.’

A Parliament spokesman said: ‘A full range of security advice and services is being provided to new and returning members. We do not comment on individual MPs’ security arrangements or advice.’

A Home Office spokesman also declined to go into details but said: ‘There is an extensive range of security measures available to all MPs.’