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Speaker's Committee on the Search of Offices on the Parliamentary Estate

I have already said that I am surprised that the procedure was different in the case of the hon. Member for Ashford. The police then approached the Serjeant at Arms. I point out to everybody, including commentators outside this place, that the Serjeant at Arms is responsible for the safety and security of Members of this House, and that the mainstay of that safety and security is the Metropolitan police. She therefore has frequent meetings with the Metropolitan police—specifically, the people who used to be the special branch, and are now the anti-terrorism unit. She discusses our safety and the deployment of the police, including armed police, in this place. She is out there to protect us.