Ulster MP told to '˜get on ground' as police swoop to halt attacker

Four people died and at least 20 were injured after a man drove his car over pedestrians and then attempted to force his way into Westminster Palace with a knife.

Mr Donaldson said: “I was walking into the Houses of Parliament for a vote with a large number of MPs when we heard a loud bang from the direction of the gates. We were told to get on the ground and did so, and then a few moments later we were ushered inside the building to safety.”

UUP peer Lord Empey faced crowds of people running down the street at 3pm as he returned to his office just across the road from Westminster Palace.

“Sadly, it brought back to me the scenes we saw at home in Northern Ireland day after day as we had to cope with the IRA bombing campaign,” he said.

DUP MP Sammy Wilson said it “appeared that the car driver jumped the fence and got into the grounds of the building” before being shot.

Armed police were not sure if there were others with him who may have got inside, so they went systematically through the building to check, he said. There were also reports that police were concerned about a possible bomb, he added,

DUP MP Gregory Campbell said guards secured the four main entrances to the chamber with large wooden stockades to protect the MPs inside. “I have never seen anything like this during 16 years in parliament,” he said. “The level of security was unprecedented.” The police had been briefing MPs for months that an attack was likely, he added.

DUP MP David Simpson took to Facebook shortly after the lock-down to say the situation was “worrying”.

“Wednesday is the busiest day at Westminster and this attack has clearly been carefully planned for maximum impact,” he said.

UUP MP Tom Mr Elliott said Westminster had been shocked. “These incidents are obviously very concerning indeed, coming as they do on the first anniversary of the Brussels terror attacks,” he said.

His party colleague Danny Kinahan MP said the attack was “a reminder of the debt of gratitude we owe to the police and the security services who risk their lives every day to protect us all”.

SDLP MP Margaret Ritchie was also in Westminster throughout the attack. She said the events were “a tragic reminder of the threat that police officers and public representatives face simply for doing their jobs”.