MSPs evacuated from Scottish Parliament over suspicious packages
Fire engines outside Holyrood - Image credit: Kate Shannon
MSPs were evacuated from the Scottish Parliament today after three suspicious packages were found.
It is understood that packages were sent to the Conservative MSPs Jamie Halcro Johnston, Liz Smith and Edward Mountain.
A member of Jamie Halcro Johnston’s staff is thought to have raised the alarm after opening an envelope containing white powder.
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A Scottish Parliament spokesperson confirmed that an incident has occurred that required the evacuation of the MSP block at Holyrood.
As part of a pre-arranged process for dealing with such situations, the police and the Parliament’s incident management team were called in to assess the situation.
The spokesperson confirmed: “The incident involved the discovery of suspicious packages in the MSP building.
“As a precaution the MSP building was evacuated and remains closed.
“Police and other emergency services are on the scene and are dealing with the situation.
“No other areas of the Holyrood campus are currently affected and the Parliament remains open to the public at present.
“Our incident management team in consultation with the emergency services are reviewing whether further measures are necessary.”
The Scottish Parliament’s Presiding Officer, Ken Macintosh, and members of the Parliamentary Bureau were also briefed on the situation.
The incident has now been resolved and the Scottish Parliament spokesperson confirmed that parliamentary business will go ahead as planned this afternoon.
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