Andy Burnham has called for a “serious review” of MPs’ security following the suspected murder of Ann Widdecombe. The incoming prime minister stated that politics has “darkened” in the near decade since he was last in Westminster and that protections may need to be “increased further.”
Burnham’s observations on security changes
Asked why frontline politics had become so dangerous for serving and former politicians, the recently elected Makerfield MP told reporters outside the Commons: “I notice quite a lot of change in the building behind me 10 years away, no more so than on the question of security. Actually, I was quite shocked to see how much security now has to be in place, and even so, it may need to be increased further. Politics has darkened in the last decade, there’s no getting away from that.”
Details of Widdecombe’s death
Veteran politician Ann Widdecombe was killed in a “targeted attack,” counter-terrorism police investigating her death have said. The former MEP, 78, was found dead at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor, Devon last Thursday. A 28-year-old white British man remains under arrest on suspicion of commission, preparation, or instigation of acts of terrorism, as well as on suspicion of murder.
Reflections on political toxicity
Mr Burnham, who previously served as MP for Leigh until 2017, said: “It’s obviously appalling what happened to Ann. I knew Ann over many years in the House, and you know, we would get along – and everybody would get along. But it feels as though something has changed. It’s easy to blame social media, but it feels like it’s having some impact in just building that kind of toxicity that’s around the political debate.” He added that the issue could not be solved by “easy, glib answers,” and stressed: “I do think we need now a serious review of MPs’ security. I certainly am prepared to do that.”
Context of previous MP murders
Miss Widdecombe’s death follows the murders of Conservative MP Sir David Amess in 2021 and Labour’s Jo Cox in 2016. Senior figures in Reform UK, which the former Tory minister joined later in her life, have complained about the level of security their party and its leader Nigel Farage have been offered. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has offered the party leader a meeting with the chairman of the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec), the body responsible for security of high-profile figures.
