House of Lords suspended after protesters throw leaflets with three-word message
Proceedings in the House of Lords have been disrupted after protesters and threw leaflets reading “No More Lords” and started shouting and singing.
A group of around half a dozen people in the public gallery threw leaflets at around noon on Thursday. Business was adjourned for a short time as the demonstrators were escorted out. Protestors called for the abolition of the unelected chamber and in one video could be heard chanting: “Lords out, people in. Lords out, people in.”
The protesters said they were acting on behalf of Assemble, an organisation that campaigns for the House of Lords to be abolished and replaced by a citizens’ assembly. The leaflets, apparently modelled on an album by the Sex Pistols punk band, thrown by the small group had written on them: “Never mind the Lords here’s the House of People.” On the other side it stated: “Aristocrats and oligarchs: Out. Posties, mums, murses and neighbours: In. Replace the House of Lords to save the UK.”
(
PA)
As they were escorted out, the protesters sang a song encouraging people to “take back the Commons” and “raise a glass to Thomas Paine”. Thomas Paine is an English-born American founding father who was a strong advocate for democracy, rejecting monarchy and aristocracy.
Protester Lucy Porter, 50, a primary school teacher from Leeds, told the PA news agency she was “campaigning for a house of the people”. On the Lords, she said: “It’s a symbol of everything that’s outdated. We don’t have a functioning democracy in this country.”
One protester, who wished to be known only as Christina, said: “We did this action on behalf of Assemble and the ask is that, instead of a House of Lords, which is a house of unelected wealthy elites, we have a house of the people. So, we have citizens’ assemblies where people can participate in real democracy, instead of having everything handed to them from up high.”
Another woman, who also referred to herself as Christina, said: “If people enter into assemblies and a house of the people via sortition, that’s real representation where people get a say on real issues that matter to them, which are not getting processed by the Government or Parliament. The cost-of-living crisis, the housing crisis, the climate crisis, it’s a mess, and we need people with real representation to start making a difference and having a say.”
Citizens’ assemblies are selected by sortition, which means members of the public are picked at random via a lottery. Supporters of this mechanism argue it means a more representative sample of the population are able to come together and debate important issues.
