Mitie, the security company holding a £31 million contract to provide bodyguards for MPs, has strengthened its vetting procedures after an operative with far-right links was assigned to protect a politician facing extremist threats. The company is updating its Close Protection Operative vetting to include regular social media checks, alongside random checks on existing staff.
The move comes amid heightened concerns over threats to MPs from both Islamist and far-right extremists, with elected representatives facing a level of danger not seen since the Irish republican campaign of the 1970s and 1980s. Harassment and crimes against MPs have doubled in two years to nearly 1,000 annually as of March, according to the latest figures.
Cases include Green MP Hannah Spencer, who required a police escort after being targeted by men disrupting a protest against the far right. Last month, a minister told parliament that threats against female MPs were having a 'chilling effect' on women considering politics.
A Mitie spokesperson said: 'Our priority is the safety of the people under our protection, and we hold our close protection officers to the highest standards. If those standards are not upheld, we take appropriate action as soon as practicable.' All officers hold Security Industry Authority licences, the mandatory legal requirement.
Social media checks were already part of the vetting process, but Mitie is understood to have tightened this aspect earlier this month. The contract followed the 2021 assassination of Conservative MP David Amess by an Islamist terrorist, five years after the killing of Labour MP Jo Cox by a far-right extremist.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis, who chairs the Defending Democracy taskforce, said the 'volume, breadth and tempo of threats against elected representatives is unprecedented,' citing assaults, vandalism, stalking, and online abuse. He noted that women and ethnic minority MPs report the highest levels of abuse, including sexualised and racially charged threats.
