Parliament: Security fears

A newspaper reporter has breached security at the Houses of Parliament by getting a job there based on false references.

Daniel Boffey, a journalist for the Mirror, said he worked in the Palace of Westminster for six days as a switchboard operator.

He was given a pass which allowed him to move around the Commons and the Lords at will and had access to ministers' offices and mobile numbers.

He said he used two false references and lied about his education in his application, and he claims no further checks were made into his background before he took up the post.

Boffey said his pass gave him "licence to go on walkabouts all over the Commons and Lords buildings".

And he claims a boss told him during an induction: "They sometimes have a crackdown on security and search people, but to be honest we don't do that over here".

Face to face

At the height of the parliamentary debate over the Prevention of Terrorism Bill on March 11, the journalist said he came "face to face" with home secretary Charles Clarke with no apparent security at hand.

A House of Commons administration office spokesman told the Mirror job applicants were "security cleared to the appropriate level and subjected to a criminal records check".

"The fact that Mr Boffey was issued with a pass indicates that he was not a security risk," he added.

Last year Commons speaker Michael Martin asked MI5 and the Metropolitan Police to prepare a report on Commons security.

The move followed a series of high-profile stunts last year including a group of fathers' rights campaigners hitting the prime minister with a flour-bomb thrown from the public gallery and pro-hunt protesters invading the floor of the debating chamber itself.

A Sun reporter also managed to smuggle in fake bomb-making equipment.