Members of Parliament (MPs) are likely to be offered police protection or private security guards at their weekly constituency surgeries following the murder of Conservative party member David Amess.

Safety arrangements have been under constant review since the murder of MP Jo Cox in 2016 and already many MPs have increased security at their homes and private offices, including new locks, closed circuit television and in some cases, panic alarms.

Kim Leadbeater, the sister of Cox and now a Labour MP herself, said her partner had asked her to step down after the killing of Amess.

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"There are other options that are being considered," said Home Secretary Priti Patel on Sunday, "such as when you hold your surgeries, you have officers or some kind of protection."

Some MPs have already held surgeries this weekend with a police officer present, but the actual practice of meeting constituents face-to-face is unlikely to change. Parliamentarians admit to being torn between the need to protect their health and well-being and the clear imperative to maintain as much personal contact with constituents as possible.

The overall review of future procedures is almost certain to take time and will be subject to some vigorous debate.

The 25-year-old man in custody has been identified as Ali Harbi Ali according to reports in the UK media. He's believed to be a British citizen of Somali heritage.

Counter-terrorism police have confirmed he is now being held under section 41 of the Terrorism Act, which automatically gives them 14 days from the moment of arrest to detain someone without a charge.

That gives officers up to Friday, October 22.

Harbi Ali is believed to have had some previous involvement with Prevent, the anti-radicalization protocol, but that was some years ago and he is not thought to have ever been a person of interest to the UK's security service, MI5.

Prevent is a referral system, described by the UK Home Office as supporting people who are at risk of being drawn into terrorist or extreme activity. Engagement in the scheme is voluntary and it is not a criminal sanction.

Counter-terrorism officers will now make use of the extension to investigate the suspect's background. Three properties in London are being or have been searched so far. Officers say they are still not seeking anyone else in connection with the incident.

Ali Harbi Ali has been transferred from custody in Essex to a police station in London. 

The tragedy of Mr. Amess also reflected the trend of lone actors in recent terrorist attacks in the UK and other European countries.  

Last Wednesday, a man armed with a bow and arrows killed five people and wounded two others in Kongsberg, southeastern Norway. Police have described the attack as an act of terror.

In 2020, an extremist beheaded a French teacher in a suburb of Paris on October 16 and a knife attacker killed three at a church in Nice on October 29. 

All completed jihadist terrorist attacks were carried out by lone actors, according to the European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2021, which added that the ISIS terrorist group and the al-Qaeda network continued to incite lone-actor attacks in Western countries.

Besides, Ali Harbi Ali, who stabbed Mr. Amess, was reported to be a British national of Somali heritage living in north London, and the perpetrator of Norway's bow-and-arrow attack was a 37-year-old Danish citizen. Neither person is a traditionally new migrant or refugee.

Despite the attacks, the EU report showed that the number of terrorist arrests dropped significantly, as 449 arrests on suspicion of terrorist offenses in EU member states were reported to Europol in 2020, a distinct decrease from 723 in 2019. 

Writing in the Observer and the Mail on Sunday newspapers, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, has called for an end of what he describes as the hate which drives these attacks.

"If anything positive is to come out of this latest awful tragedy," he said, "it is that the quality of political discourse has to change. The conversation has to be kinder and based on respect."

Video editor: Simon Ormiston