Police guarding Parliament think new security fence is ‘dangerous’, says author

Police believe a new security fence installed to protect the parliamentary estate is “dangerous”, according to a Tory grandee.

House Of Cards author Lord Dobbs said officers had warned the tall metal barrier “cuts off sightlines” to potential attackers.

Peers heard the railings were recently erected as part of moves to improve security along the historic site’s western boundary, separating Old Palace Yard from Abingdon Street.

Lord Dobbs, a former Conservative Party deputy chairman and chief of staff, also raised the “saga” over the new front door at a main entrance to the House of Lords, that cost nearly £10 million and does not work.

He questioned what lessons could be learned from the expensive debacle for the long-delayed restoration of the Palace of Westminster, which is forecast to cost billions of pounds.

Referring to the new security barrier, Lord Dobbs said: “Why is it that every policeman and custodian that one asks says that the fence which has just been erected is dangerous, as it cuts off sightlines for those who might be wishing harm on this place?”

Responding, Lords senior deputy speaker Lord Gardiner of Kimble said both the fencing and door were introduced as security measures, highlighting the 2017 Westminster terror attack, which claimed the lives of unarmed officer Pc Keith Palmer and four others.

He told peers: “The backdrop is a security imperative.”

Lord Gardiner added: “What has happened to our front door is entirely unacceptable.

“This has not been a project that anyone should be proud of, but we need to enhance our security, for reasons that many of us regret but which are necessary in the world in which we live.”

On the planned revamp of Parliament, he said it was important to learn lessons from other countries.

He told peers: “That is why we are in dialogue with the Austrians, the Dutch and the Canadians, where they have had experience of renovation of parliaments, and, in our own country, with Buckingham Palace and Manchester Town Hall.”

The Metropolitan Police has been contacted for comment.