§ Mr. HammondTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the closure of Abingdon Street in front of the Palace of Westminster on the day of the State Opening of Parliament for six hours after Her Majesty the Queen had left the building was determined on security grounds. [141898]
§ Mr. McNultyI have been asked to reply.
The front of the Palace of Westminster adjacent to Abingdon Street and Old Palace Yard is protected by railings and black defensive concrete blocks. These were 251W removed for the State Opening of Parliament. The area was then closed using an outer security cordon of grey defensive concrete blocks.
Once Her Majesty had left, the operation to reinstate the original security measures began. This was done as quickly as possible, but with such a high profile venue, the original security measures needed to be fully in place before the traffic was allowed to pass. Abingdon Street was fully re-opened to traffic at 6pm.