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David Cameron ‘shoved’ by man in Leeds Questions over prime minister’s security after ‘shove by jogger’
(about 1 hour later)
A man was briefly detained after he ran up to David Cameron and appeared to shove him as left a press conference in Leeds. Questions have been raised about security arrangements for the prime minister after a man ran up to David Cameron and appeared to shove him as he left a press conference in Leeds.
In the incident, captured on camera, a man with long black hair rushed up to the prime minister as he was walking to his car with his security entourage. But West Yorkshire police said there was “nothing sinister” about the incident, captured on camera, and that it was “just a man in the wrong place at the wrong time”. Security staff bundled the man to the ground while others hurried Cameron into his car.
Some security staff bundled the man to the ground, while others hurried Cameron into his waiting car. It was unclear from the footage, whether the man made physical contact with the prime minister. Cameron was outside Leeds civic hall after speaking on the second phase of the £50bn HS2 project. Ch Insp Derek Hughes of West Yorkshire police said: “Around midday today, a 28-year-old local man was briefly arrested after he came close to the prime minster’s group.“No threats were made, and after the man’s details were checked he was de-arrested and allowed on his way.”
Cameron was outside Leeds civic hall after speaking at an event on the second phase of the £50bn HS2 project. Ch Insp Derek Hughes of West Yorkshire police said: “Around midday today, a 28-year-old local man was briefly arrested after he came close to the prime minster’s group, who had just left the civic hall in Leeds. It is understood the man claimed he was jogging when he apparently ran too close to the prime minister.
“No threats were made, and after the man’s details were checked he was de-arrested and allowed on his way.” But the incident is bound to raise concern at a time when the level of threat from international terrorism to Britain has been raised from substantial to severe. Mark Pritchard, Tory MP for the Wrekin, demanded a full investigation into how the Metropolitan police security team allowed the man to get so close to the prime minister. He called for Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan police commissioner, to launch an immediate internal inquiry.
It is understood the man claimed he was jogging when he apparently ran too close to the prime minister, and as far as the police are concerned had done nothing wrong. “The Met police have some of the best close protection officers in the world,” said Pritchard. “However, this was a clear breach of security and could have been far more sinister in outcome. With the terror threat level increased, this cannot be allowed to happen again. The Met commissioner should call an immediate and swift internal inquiry to discover why this happened and implement the necessary lessons learned as quickly as possible.”
Chris Wilson, a witness, described the man as “just a typical hippy type”.
“It looked like Cameron sidestepped him,” he said. “It was a lovely little move. He should be on the stage, really. And then he was tackled by the person behind. And then [Cameron] was in the car and the car was gone. They were on him. They were like flies round poo. One minute he was down, then he was up again and moving. It was fast.”
Wilson said the man ran about 10 yards across the road towards the prime minister. He said he was white, with a beard and dreadlocks. The prime minister looked round, he said, but did not seemed worried.
The decision to raise the threat level was announced by Theresa May in August, when the home secretary said it was “related to developments in Syria and Iraq, where terrorist groups are planning attacks against the west”.
She said some of the plots were likely to involve foreign fighters who had travelled to the Middle East from Britain and Europe to take part in the conflicts there.
The official threat level assessment last stood at severe more than three years ago when it was reduced to “substantial” on 11 July 2011. Severe is the fourth level in the five-tier system of alert categories that have been used by the government since 2006 to warn of terrorist activity. The only higher level is “critical”, when an attack is expected imminently.