Three women MPs have been given taxpayer-funded bodyguards amid growing fears for the safety of politicians.
The unnamed trio, including Tory and Labour MPs, are understood to have close protection from private companies as well as chauffeur-driven cars, usually reserved for senior Cabinet members, it was reported last night.
A top-level group of police, Government and Royal officials known as the Royal and VIP Executive Committee, responsible for keeping the Royal Family and the Prime Minister safe, is said to have been consulted on the move, The Sunday Times reported.
It said the process had been introduced recently as the threat level from protesters has risen.
The Mail on Sunday can also reveal that MPs are turning to ex-SAS officers to protect them.
At least one MP is understood to have taken on a former special forces expert to keep him safe.
This comes as Ministers consider an unprecedented ban on demonstrations outside politicians’ homes and offices to stop them being targeted by pro-Palestine and climate activists.
Former Armed Forces women are also giving advice to female MPs on how to stay safe, as part of efforts by the Home Office, police and Parliament to enhance security.
External consultants hired by the Commons have given ‘awareness training’ to hundreds of politicians, their families and their staff.
The parliamentary authorities are also piloting a team of Local Security Advisers who live in MPs’ constituencies and can visit their homes and offices.
Private security has provided protection at hundreds of constituency surgeries in the wake of the murders of MPs Jo Cox and Sir David Amess.
And a new risk team is monitoring social media to give early warning to MPs.
But some MPs complain that police have not always pressed charges – even after arresting suspects for making death threats.
Pro-Palestine and climate activists continued to target MPs and political events on Friday night.
Red Wall Tory Jonathan Gullis shared a clip of demonstrators disrupting a Conservative event in Stoke-on-Trent. He asked: ‘Why did police let key activists from the hate mob walk past them so that they could harass people?’
In another video on social media yesterday, Labour chair Anneliese Dodds was heckled with chants of ‘You support genocide’ as she left a party event in Oxford, with police escorting her.