Boris Johnson escaped unhurt when a demonstrator lunged dramatically in front of his car as he left the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon after taking part in the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions.
The man was stopped just in front of Boris’s car but because it had to brake suddenly as did his motorcycle outrider, the Prime Minister’s vehicle was hit from behind by the escort Range Rover and suffered a visible dent.
Scotland Yard will now have to review security around the Prime Minister because the incident occurred very close to the scene of a terrorist attack in 2017 when Khalid Masood drove a car into the entrances gates to Parliament. He managed to kill five people, including fatally stabbing Keith Palmer, a police officer, before he was shot dead.
The Carriage Gates, which Boris was driven out of, are now manned by four unarmed Metropolitan Police officers who open and shut them when cars arrive and leave.
A pair of anti-terrorist officers armed with machine guns stand behind them in case someone manages to burst through.
Culture secretary Oliver Dowden told the daily Downing Street coronavirus news conference that the Prime Minister was “wholly unscathed and I believe everyone else escaped safely from that situation”.
The middle aged demonstrator, who had been protesting about Turkish action against Kurdish rebels, ran into the road just as Boris’s car emerged.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “At approximately 2.30pm today, two police vehicles were involved in a collision in Parliament Square. The police vehicles were part of a security movement.
“A pedestrian is reported to have stepped onto the road, causing the vehicles to suddenly stop, which has led to two of the vehicles in the convoy being involved in a damage-only collision. No injuries have been reported.
“A man, no further details at this time, was arrested at the scene for offences under Section 5 of the Public Order Act and for obstructing the highway. All vehicles were able to drive from the scene.”
Section 5 of the act covers people using or displaying threatening words or behaving in a disorderly manner, or displaying any writing or sign which is threatening and would cause someone to feel alarmed or distressed.
Boris was in a Jaguar XJ Portfolio V8 LWB Auto, made by Indian-owned Jaguar Land Rover and valued at least £54,000 (and a lot more if it is armour plated).
The Range Rover that hit his car from behind is also made by JLR.
Former Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism detective David Vidacette said the crash reflected badly on police, tweeting: “This is really, really poor performance on a gate where there is a known vulnerability.”
He added: “The road has to be closed for the PM’s convoy to exit right out of the gate, so everyone knew what was happening... Yet a protester has still managed to bring the convoy to a halt and cause the accident.”
