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Met Police respond to another suspicious package sent to Parliament

Specialist officers are on scene and the package is being assessed

Ashley Cowburn
Political Correspondent
Thursday 15 March 2018 12:13 GMT
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Police were called to the estate where MPs and their staff have their offices on Tuesday at 9.49am
Police were called to the estate where MPs and their staff have their offices on Tuesday at 9.49am (Getty)

A police response unit has arrived on the parliamentary estate after a “suspicious” package has been found.

It is unclear at this stage whether the package is linked to packages received by four Muslim Labour MPs in the past few days.

A spokesperson for the Parliamentary authorities said: “The Met Police are currently investigating a suspicious item of mail in the Palace of Westminster. We cannot provide any more details at this stage.”

The Metropolitan Police added: Police were called at 10:14hrs on Thursday, 15 March to reports of a suspicious package delivered to an office at the Palace of Westminster.

“Specialist officers are on scene and the package is being assessed. London Ambulance Service is on scene. A woman is being assessed as a precaution.”

It comes after a staff member for Ealing Central and Acton MP, Rupa Huq, was taken to hospital as a precaution after opening post containing an “irritant substance”, while the parliamentary office of Manchester Gorton’s MP, Afzhal Khan, was evacuated after he was sent a suspect package.

Two people were also taken to hospital as police assessed a package sent to the office of Mohammad Yasin, MP for Bedford and Kempston, on Monday.

His colleague Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, said she opened a “threatening letter” on Monday calling for attacks on Muslims.

Speaking on the BBC's Today programme, Ms Ali said: “MPs are no strangers, and certainly ethnic minority and Muslim MPs, are no strangers to threats from extremist groups, but the level of far-right violent threats and far-right activity has become very worrying.”

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