London (Parliament Politics Magazine)– During the State Opening of Parliament and King’s Speech, snipers will be deployed on Whitehall rooftops.
How Will Security Measures Protect King’s Speech Ceremony in London?
A huge security procedure will be put in place in central London for Wednesday when King Charles III will journey from Buckingham Palace to Westminster to extend Parliament.
Barricades were on Monday already going up outside Parliament ahead of one of the grand ceremonies of Britain’s democracy. Hundreds of police officials will be deployed along Whitehall and nearby roads, including some in simple clothes. Snipers will be located on critical buildings to protect the Monarch.
The police operation is anticipated to be heightened following the endeavoured assassination of Donald Trump in America. A full dress trial of the procession normally takes place ahead of the event which is flashed around the world in its full pomp and circumstance.
What Measures Are in Place for Security at Westminster’s State Ceremony?
Re-elected Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle revealed last week how the parliamentary authorities were operating with the police to step up security for MPs after the growing level of abuse thrown at them. He stated: “I’m very concerned that people feel that they have the right to intimidate members, or people who are putting themselves up for election, the fact that MPs who are elected also suffer misuse they should never suffer, dangers, intimidation. I won’t stand for it. I will sustain all the MPs. We will be working with the police.”
British politics has been left shocked and appalled by the killing of two MPs in recent years, Jo Cox in 2016, and Sir David Amess in 2021.
What Security Challenges Are Addressed for State Opening in London?
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy highlighted on Monday that politics must “far less heat and far more light. In Britain as in the United States over the last decade and a half we have been through a very dark, divisive time,” she told Times Radio. We have seen provocative rhetoric becoming at times the norm in the Houses of Parliament, indeed at the height of Brexit we saw accusations that we were traitors fleeing from all sides. It is no surprise then that language is repeated back to us on the streets of Britain.”
Shadow foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell stressed that there was “too much playing the man and not the ball” in politics. He stated: “On both sides of the Atlantic, during my 35 years in politics the tone of the discussion has coarsened.
“Of the 11 general elections that I have now fought in, the last one hit a certain low in terms of the abuse that contenders on all sides of the political discourse in the UK had to put up with.
“The call for a better quality debate, and also the call from the Speaker of the House of Commons when he stated just before the weekend that we should appreciate politicians more but that they need to respect each other more I thought he put it very succinctly and very well.”