Nigel Farage needs British government bodyguards

It’s not a new problem. Farage has told me that he was refused a government protection detail during previous elections even though he faced credible threats. This broke with the standard protocol in U.K. elections, where major politicians receive temporary protection details during election races. Farage’s perception, likely justified, is that the government disliked his views and didn’t want to do him any favors. This sits with Britain’s flexible notion of what security different politicians deserve. Regardless, at least until Britain’s Brexit future is set, Farage should receive a protective detail from the Metropolitan Police’s protection command.

With standing responsibility for the protection of senior government officials, members of the royal family, certain foreign ambassadors, and visiting dignitaries, Protection Command also protects private individuals who face significant threats. The author Salman Rushdie, for example, received a protection detail after a death sentence was issued against him by Iran. Providing Farage with a Protection Command detail would serve two key objectives.

First, it would provide him with more highly trained protection officers. While police officers assigned to Protection Command lack the training, protocols, and capabilities of the U.S. Secret Service, its officers are trained across a range of protective requirements. This would allow them to deter possible Farage attackers, and hopefully defeat others.

Protection Command would also improve Farage’s safety in the face of armed attackers. Private security officers in Britain are unarmed, whereas government officers are armed with firearms. In addition, were Farage to receive a government detail, it would be supported by other agencies responsible for threat intelligence and assessment. This, as any Secret Service employee will attest, is the bread and butter of effective protection.

Ultimately, though, the U.K. government must act. It is incompatible with the effective practice of democracy for a senior political figure to face outsize threats alongside inadequate security.