Jacob Rees-Mogg has said there may need to be a crackdown on protesters outside Parliament after the Tory and his 12-year-old son were heckled with shouts of “traitor”.
The Leader of the Commons said MPs must think about “whether there is more we need to do” after he faced cries of “f**k off”, “utter prick”, “Nazi”, and “shame on you”.
He added “sessional orders may be helpful” – a reference to an obscure order last invoked in 2005 that tells police to keep the streets “free and open” near Parliament.
The Tory minister said: “I think it is very important that MPs can come and go from the precincts of Parliament feeling safe.
“And we must think about whether there is more we need to do and whether sessional orders may be helpful in that regard.
(Image: PA)
“But all MPs are representing 70,000 sometimes more constituents and must be able to come here and go without any feeling that they are under any pressure from any group outside Parliament.”
It comes after Mr Rees-Mogg and his son Peter were heckled by an angry crowd shouting “traitor” on Saturday as they walked out of the Commons.
They were escorted by several police officers during the shouting, which appeared to be from both anti-Brexit and Brexiteer protesters.
Labour’s Diane Abbott and Tory Michael Gove also both received a police escort.
(Image: REUTERS)
Sessional orders, which began in the 17th Century, are orders agreed by the Commons that only have effect for one Parliamentary session – usually a year.
They have little or no direct legal effect but express the will of Parliament.
Crucially, they were last used in 2005 to tell police the “passages through the streets” leading to Parliament must be “kept free and open” – and that “no obstruction be permitted to hinder the passage of MPs”.
The order also told Scotland Yard to prevent anyone “hindering MPs by any means in the pursuit of their Parliamentary duties in the Parliamentary Estate”.
But it was no longer needed thanks to a highly controversial law a few months later – which made it a crime to protest in Parliament Square without permission from police.
That law was repealed in 2011 but sessional orders were not brought back.
It understood Mr Rees-Mogg believes the matter may be one for Parliament’s Procedure Committee to take up.
Mr Rees-Mogg told the House of Commons today: “May I add my thanks to the police for the escorts they provided to get people home, including me.
“I’ve had many really very kind inquiries about my son.
“He is a 12 year old boy. He found nothing more exciting than being escorted home by the police. I’m not sure he should’ve found it so exciting but he did.”
