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Bruce George FSyI

Obituary by Dr Mark Button FSyI

Earlier this year former Labour Member of Parliament and Security Instititute Vice President, the Rt Hon Bruce George FSyI died after a
long illness. Bruce made a significant and lifelong contribution to the private security industry, as well as many other areas, although the
focus here will be upon the former. The longevity and commitment of him to the private security industry is now very clear, but when as a
parliamentarian he introduced his first private member’s bill to regulate the private security industry in 1977, which followed several other
MPs and Lords, he was described by one leading industry commentator (Peter Heims) as, ‘the latest flash in the pan’.

Bruce was to introduce his private member’s bill to regulate private security another four times in 1988, 1990, 1992 and 1994. And unlike
some other parliamentarians who tried, he had no financial interests to declare with the industry, other than his own pure curiosity. His
pressure in the 1970s was to lead to the Labour Government publishing a Green Paper on regulation, which any progress towards, was
subsequently smothered for a decade, by the election of a deregulating government in 1979.

It was the early 1990s which was to produce Bruce’s finest hour in the battle for regulation. Using his membership of the House of
Commons Defence Committee he was able to secure an enquiry into the physical security of MoD facilities, which exposed poor standards
in the security industry. He organised a conference at the House of Commons on private security regulation, in which the then Shadow
Home Secretary, a certain Tony Blair spoke, in which he supported regulation. Behind the scenes he was pushing him and his deputy Alun
Michael for regulation.

Then the Home Affairs Committee decided to conduct an enquiry into regulation, a committee we must remember with a Conservative
majority at this time, not inclined to regulation. Bruce did much to convince them to advocate his model of regulation. Indeed when giving
evidence himself and pressed by the Chairman, Sir Ivan Lawrence, that Bruce’s preference for a Gaming Board style would be better
replaced by Ofwat, Ofgas type of regulator, Bruce’s very quick and witty reply - and typical of his ability to win arguments by humour -
was: ‘To that suggestion, my reply would certainly contain the word off!’ The committee was to go on and endorse his views with a report
recommending a model of regulation close to his own. With the election of the Labour government in 1997 it was only a matter of time,
with Bruce continuing to lobby behind the scenes. A White Paper was followed by the 2001 Private Security Industry Act and then the
formation of the Security Industry Authority. They were not perfect and Bruce was always demanding more, but they owe a great deal to his
work.

It would be wrong to assume Bruce was only interested in regulation too, he was fascinated by all aspects of private security. He built one
of the largest collection of books and papers I have seen on the subject. He was always reading about it and keen to attend events and
conferences to learn more. He was also a prolific writer on the subject. I was lucky enough to work with him on a book and many articles,
but he wrote many more and has written some of the most interesting and important accounts of the history of private security. For these
reasons he was made a Visiting Professor at my university in Portsmouth and he would regularly come and give lectures to students, both
before and after retiring as an MP. His interest was genuine and sincere and was not driven by cheap partisan opportunism or money. It
was no surprise to me that when he retired he continued to research and participate in the industry. His recognition by many in the sector
was genuine and he certainly proved he was no ‘flash in the pan’ when it came to private security. I doubt the private security industry will
ever have such an interested and critical friend in parliament again.

The Security Institute Directors, Staff and Membership send our deepest sympathy to Bruce’s Family and Friends.

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