Committee publication · Correspondence · 22 May 2025 · HC 570
Letter, dated 6 May 2025, from Dan Jarvis MBE MP, Security Minister
From: Speaker's Conference (2024)
Inquiry: Speaker’s Conference on the security of candidates, MPs and elections
Summary
Security Minister Dan Jarvis responds to the Speaker's Conference letter of 8 April 2025 on harassment of MPs and elected representatives. Jarvis confirms a cross-Whitehall Defending Democracy Taskforce review is underway to assess existing legal tools and identify gaps in protection, particularly for MPs' homes. He defends current legislation (aggravated trespass, Public Order Act provisions) as adequate but acknowledges inconsistent police application and commits to clearer guidance and engagement with the CPS on potential strengthening measures.
Key findings
- Government has instructed a cross-Whitehall review via the Defending Democracy Taskforce to assess harassment tools and vulnerabilities affecting MPs, candidates, teams, and voters both in and outside election periods.
- Minister confirms existing legislation (aggravated trespass under Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, section 4A Public Order Act 1986, section 42A Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001) provides powers to tackle home-based harassment, but acknowledges some incidents have been managed ineffectively.
- Minister has written to Chief Constables reminding them protests outside elected representatives' homes should be treated as generally intimidatory and must be dispersed under the Defending Democracy Policing Protocol.
- Government will not currently extend Public Spaces Protection Orders to private property but will engage with the CPS to review legislative strength, including applicability of PSPOs outside immediate vicinity of private homes.
- Police will develop clearer guidance on applying existing law consistently across the UK; government emphasises need for MP and candidate collaboration in prosecutions and uptake of available safety measures.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Dan Jarvis MBE MP, Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, Crown Prosecution Service, Defending Democracy Taskforce, Chief Constables, PLaIT
Notable line
“I have instructed my officials through the Defending Democracy Taskforce to undertake a cross-Whitehall review of the harassment faced by our colleagues in the House …”
Key Quotes
“I take this issue incredibly seriously, and as I referenced at the Conference, I have instructed my officials through the Defending Democracy Taskforce to undertake a cross-Whitehall review of the harassment faced by our colleagues in the House …”
“Despite the current range of powers available to the police to tackle harassment and intimidation, protests outside the homes of fellow MPs and other elected representatives that have either escalated into incidents of intimidation and harassment or have indeed been pre-planned in that vein.”
“I have therefore instructed my officials – as part of the broader Harassment and Intimidation Review - to actively review the strength of the legislation in the context of protecting MPs in their private homes.”
“I have written to Chief Constables to remind them of the agreement reached under the Defending Democracy Policing Protocol that a protest outside the house of an elected representatives should be seen as generally intimidatory and must be dispersed.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗