Britain’s Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, speaks at an event to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Falkland Islands conflict, in London, Britain June 7, 2022. UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via REUTERS
LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Britain’s parliamentary authorities are tightening security procedures to minimise the risk of protests inside the House of Commons after climate protesters last week glued themselves to the Speaker’s chair and warned of more action to come.
“Given the number of protests and campaigns planned for the coming fortnight and drawing on the events of Friday, the Parliamentary Security department and MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) have adjusted their posture accordingly,” Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said in a statement to parliament.
London police on Friday arrested six individuals after visitors on a guided tour broke away to stage a protest at the heart of parliament, criticising the way the country is responding to climate change. read more
Parliament was not in session at the time of the protests.
Protest group Extinction Rebellion said 50 people were involved in the stunt, with some padlocking themselves to railings outside the estate and others unfurling banners within the palace of Westminster.
Commenting on the incident, Hoyle said the right to protest was a fundamental principle of Britain’s democracy, but the rights of peaceful process did not extend to “unlawful activity”.
“You will all understand why I cannot go into what details and what processes are being put in place,” Hoyle said.
Reporting by Farouq Suleiman; editing by William James
I’d be curious about what they’re suggesting.
I’ve been on a guided tour of parliament (they’re very interesting, I’d recommend them to anyone) and you’ve got full airport-style security before you get into the building.
Short of having security guards everywhere (they’re already in key locations like the Commons and the Lords, they didn’t seem to be very effective against XR though), or strictly limiting where the tour goes, it’s going to be hard to tighten it up much more without severely limiting how enjoyable the tour is.
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Britain’s Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, speaks at an event to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Falkland Islands conflict, in London, Britain June 7, 2022. UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via REUTERS
LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Britain’s parliamentary authorities are tightening security procedures to minimise the risk of protests inside the House of Commons after climate protesters last week glued themselves to the Speaker’s chair and warned of more action to come.
“Given the number of protests and campaigns planned for the coming fortnight and drawing on the events of Friday, the Parliamentary Security department and MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) have adjusted their posture accordingly,” Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said in a statement to parliament.
London police on Friday arrested six individuals after visitors on a guided tour broke away to stage a protest at the heart of parliament, criticising the way the country is responding to climate change. read more
Parliament was not in session at the time of the protests.
Protest group Extinction Rebellion said 50 people were involved in the stunt, with some padlocking themselves to railings outside the estate and others unfurling banners within the palace of Westminster.
Commenting on the incident, Hoyle said the right to protest was a fundamental principle of Britain’s democracy, but the rights of peaceful process did not extend to “unlawful activity”.
“You will all understand why I cannot go into what details and what processes are being put in place,” Hoyle said.
Reporting by Farouq Suleiman; editing by William James
I’d be curious about what they’re suggesting.
I’ve been on a guided tour of parliament (they’re very interesting, I’d recommend them to anyone) and you’ve got full airport-style security before you get into the building.
Short of having security guards everywhere (they’re already in key locations like the Commons and the Lords, they didn’t seem to be very effective against XR though), or strictly limiting where the tour goes, it’s going to be hard to tighten it up much more without severely limiting how enjoyable the tour is.