Expert's praise for security services

Lord Carlile, who headed the Government's independent review of terror legislation from 2001 to 2011, said there would inevitably be a major review of security at Westminster, but that did not necessarily mean that existing procedures were not sufficient.

He said that while it was tragic that three innocent people lost their lives in Wednesday's attack, it should also be recognised that existing procedures had managed to prevent the attacker from claiming any more lives or entering the Houses of Parliament.

He said: "They will have to review security of the parliamentary estate given the circumstances of this latest attack, but it should be remembered that the security arrangements were successful insofar as they prevented any parliamentarians or their staff from being attacked.

"It should also be remembered that the perpetrator only got five to 10 yards inside the parliamentary estate.

"The reaction by the authorities was extremely good, the tragedy of the Pc who was stabbed, and the other people's death is something we have to recognise, Parliament was barely penetrated and it is important we reflect on that."

Lord Carlile said that MPs and peers would be determined not to fetter public access to Westminster, although there may be some scope to tightens security procedures.

"Parliamentarians will be determined to maintain public access, but how the public accesses Parliament may be reviewed," he said.

"Security has already been strengthened in recent years," he said.

"People already

Lord Carlile said a future review would now need to look at how terror suspects are monitored, and also the protection of high-profile buildings across the country.

"It appears that the perpetrator was already known to the authorities, and we will need to establish what was known about him, and whether the law is sufficient to track people who are of concern to them.

"I think we will need to look at security not just around Parliament, but generally around iconic buildings across Britain," he said.

Lord Carlile said the security services had already anticipated the likelihood of an attack of this nature.

"It was definitely predictable that there would be a low-technology attack of this kind somewhere," he said.

"We may have to consider the question of whether all police should be armed around major public buildings and places of public resort but those are lessons learned matters.

"This is the sort of attack we feared, the sort of attack that was predicted by the authorities, but it is the most difficult sort of attack to anticipate."

He said it was extremely rare for so-called "lone-wolf" attackers not to have any connections whatsoever with other terrorists or terror organisations.

"I suspect when we know the background of this perpetrator we will see he is probably inspired by something external, and we have to address causes that drive people to commit these terrible crimes, for that is what they are, and in this instance a crime which has hit at the seat of our democracy."