Body armour for Holyrood staff as fear of attack deepens

MORE than £35,000 has been spent on stab-proof vests for Holyrood security staff amid a growing threat from “fixated individuals” at the Scottish Parliament.

Scores of illegal knives and blades have been confiscated from visitors during security checks at the building’s entrance, MSPs were told yesterday.

But the spiralling security met with concerns from one MSP who warned they are a “money drain” with little evidence to justify the cost.

Security staff began wearing stab vests earlier this month at the main entrance to Parliament where visitors go through security checks on their way in.

David Stewart, a Labour MSP on the parliament’s corporate body, told MSPs: “The nature of the terrorist threat facing the parliament has changed in recent years.

“There is increased concern about the threat from fixated individuals.”

Security is believed to be increasingly focused on a lone, deranged individual who is not part of any terrorist group in the same way that Norwegian fanatic Anders Brevik operated. The threat from terrorists is also increasingly focused on stopping suicide-style bombers, rather than preventing IRA-style bomb blasts which the building’s security features were originally designed to minimise.

Mr Stewart revealed there have been 158 crimes in the building since 2003 and 298 in the Parliament’s special postcode area since 2007, however, many of these date back to the period when the Scottish Parliament was a building site.

He said 360 items have been surrendered by visitors at the public entrance since April 2009.

Mr Stewart added: “Surrendered items which were not returned to owners from April this year include 126 items – mainly illegal knives and blades. Surrendered items are not recorded as incidents of crime.”

The stab vests were given to each member of security staff at a cost of £35,500.

Mr Stewart was responding to a question in the chamber from SNP backbencher John Wilson.

The Nationalist MSP said: “We talk about the Scottish Parliament being open to the public for all visitors to attend, but when they walk in the first thing they see is security staff wearing stab vests – it’s not exactly the image that you want to be portraying for visitors coming in.

“There was also no indication that there had been a level of knife crime or threats with knives that had resulted in the introduction of stab vests.”

Mr Wilson has previously questioned spending on a “holding pen” to process visitors.