Protect Big Ben

last updated 8 January 2015

London

The new anti-terrorism barriers put up to protect Parliament from car bombs could actually increase fatalities from a blast, according to a government report leaked this week. The concrete blocks around the building, installed less than a year ago, could shatter, creating a barrage of “lethal projectiles” that would kill passersby. Intelligence experts at MI5 recommended instead that a “ring of steel” be erected around the entire Parliament compound. The leaked report was greeted with howls of derision. “Turning Parliament into a fortress,” said opposition MP David Davis, “means the terrorists have won.”