London: Closed circuit television (CCTV) security systems are to be installed across internal corridors of the UK Parliament building to address the increasing terror threat fears, but the plan is facing resistance over privacy and other concerns.


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

Both the House of Commons and Lords Speakers have signed off on the installation of the security cameras in all areas of the Palace of Westminster that can be accessed by visitors.


However, according to The Sunday Telegraph, there is a delay in their actual installation due to fears the devices would stand out as unsightly in the heritage building.


While the use of CCTV cameras is more widespread in Parliament's newer buildings, parliamentary authorities have largely restricted the placement of cameras in the Palace of Westminster to outside areas and private areas "considered vulnerable to intrusion".


The widespread use of cameras in the Palace has also been resisted for decades due to concerns about the privacy of MPs.


However parliamentary sources have told the newspaper that the authorities decided to overhaul the policy towards the end of last year amid concerns that while there were "hundreds of CCTV cameras outside", security officials were unable to track people using the devices once they entered the estate.


"The purpose was to allow security to, broadly speaking, work out where somebody has gone, so they can at least follow them down the corridor," a senior source told newspaper.


The "principle" for CCTV coverage to be extended into "internal public and semi-public areas" of the estate was agreed last November by the Commons and Lords commissions ? chaired by John Bercow, the Commons speaker, and Lord Fowler, his counterpart in the House of Lords. And, the devices are expected to be installed in a matter of "months".


A Commons spokesperson declined to comment on the decision and subsequent discussions, saying: "We do not provide details of security arrangements on the Parliamentary Estate."


In March, Khalid Masood ran over pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before stabbing PC Keith Palmer to death at the gates of the Parliament. Sir Jon Murphy, a former police chief constable, was asked to review perimeter security of the building in the wake of the attack.


His key findings reported by The Sunday Telegraph last week include a physical barrier known as a boom to be placed in the river to stop boats approaching Parliament.


Armed guards had already been stationed at Parliament gates since the attack in March.


New passes will be issued to 15,000 people who work in Parliament, with names and photographs on both sides.