According to this Parliamentary Written Answer, the current spending on "security" for the heavily fortified, and increasingly prison like Houses of Parliament and the associated office buildings, is running at about £38 million a year , yet MPs and Lords can still escape from the buildings, and protestors still get in !

House of Commons Commission

12 Mar 2008 : Column 397W

[...]

Security

Mr. Amess: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how much was spent on security in the Palace of Westminster in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [192541]

Nick Harvey: The resource cost of security for the whole of the parliamentary estate is only available from 2001-02 following the introduction of resource accounting in that year. The figures are:

Cost (£000)
  Commons Lords Total
2001-02 12,896 5,913 18,809
2002-03 15,319 6,928 22,247
2003-04 16,655 7,511 24,166
2004-05 18,110 8,122 26,232
2005-06 19,917 9,112 29,029
2006-07 20,292 9,313 29,605

Costs are shared between the two Houses.

In addition, there has been cash expenditure on a number of security related projects as follows:In addition, there has been cash expenditure on a number of security related projects as follows:

Cost (£000)
2001-02199
2002-031,961
2003-041,201
2004-051,304
2005-063,719
2006-078,172


What exactly are they spending over £30,000 per annum for each of the 650 Members of the House of Commons (without counting the security related project costs) ?

N.B. None of these figures includes the cost of the Metropolitan Police Service protection of the people and buildings.

What sort of signal about our freedoms and liberties does the increasingly unfriendly and inaccessible to the public "HMP Westminster", and the SOCPA Designated Area restrictions on peaceful protest around Parliament Square, give to the world ?

It shows weakness, and just how out of touch the "Westminster Village" is from the real world. Its a bunker mentality.


In a free society, the rights and laws protect the individual from the government.
In a dictatorship, the rights and laws protect the government from the people.


Just how frightened are they of the Great British people ??? So frightened that Alistair Darling has to put up taxes again, and borrow another £20bn so they can hide from us further.




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