Protesters on the roof of Houses of Parliment.

Protesters on the roof of Houses of Parliment.

news.sky.com

Protestors have climbed onto the roof of the Houses of Parliament and unfurled a banner saying: "NO 3rd RUNWAY".
The three men and two women from climate action group Plane Stupid have staged their protest ahead of Prime Minister's Questions at 12pm.
A Government consultation into the expansion of Heathrow Airport is ending today.

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Just been watching breaking news on Sky.

I find it fascinating that people like this can still get passed so called security in order to carry out protests like this. Especially after the purple powder thowing incident a while back.

I'm on either side of the fence with these sort of events. I think it's great that they have brought attention to an important issue (the third runway at Heathrow), then again it would serve them right if they had been on the wrong end of a HK!

What made me laugh was when the Sky News reader asked how they got past such tight security, the protester said that he just "watched a debate, went to the cafe, then went up in a lift to where they new people went up for a crafty cigarette".

So we have the airport issue, the security of parliment issue....and now the issue of why smoking is still allowed on top of parliment when the rest of the contry has to abide to the no smoking laws!?

CX



news.sky.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 27/2/08 by CX]

Why on earth are they still up there?

They were approached by security personel and police with cutting gear earlier, but they have been left to it now.

The protesters are up there live on tv, smiling and laughing. The longer they are there, the bigger embarrassment it is going to cause the government.

Personaly, i think the security services should liven the event up a little, point some laser sights on the protesters for a bit.....see how keen they are to stay up there then!

An ex member of the flying squad was just saying that the armed police there are very professional and would have made a quick decision that the protest was peacefull and therefore to go in pointing guns was not neccesary.

Great, so the next terrorist can go up there, unfurl a Greenpeace banner or similar, and the security services will leave him be for a while whilst the terrorist plants whatever he wants.

CX.

[edit on 27/2/08 by CX]

Unfortunately I feel that these protests, while newsworthy in that people have breached security in supposedly secure areas, will do nothing to influence the intended debate.
As for the smoking, is anyone really surprised that MP's are able to find a sneaky place in a publicly owned building for a quick puff? I am not sure if it's still there but the MP's did have a duty free shop at their disposal too, where they could still buy all their booze and tobacco products duty free, years after the rest of us lost that privilege. Just another wee perk they retained for themselves

I do agree with the protesters though regarding the further Heathrow expansion. Why the hell does everything have to go through there, in already congested skies? The motorists get stung for congestion charges which, we are told, are to try and deter people from driving into central London, thus cutting pollution. However, a lot of the Heathrow air traffic passes right overhead central London at fairly low level yet there's never any mention of the pollution from the air. Why not at least look at moving all the air freight to another location? There are ex-RAF airfields with long runways that could be developed for dedicated freight usage, thus removing all the cargo flights AND the heavy goods vehicles from Heathrow. Maybe that's too logical though for MP's who see the increased air traffic as a feather in their own caps in keeping Heathrow as Europes busiest airport...whatever the cost to the environment and surrounding community.

im fed up of these types trying to bully the public into their brand of politics. The government should treat them like anyone else who is breaking into airports and houses of parliment .. EG terrorists !

They will shoot innocent guys running for a train, but they wont shoot people who are climing onto planes or the houses of parliment!

has the world gont nuts?

Power to the people!

If they're going to go to all that effort they could at least do it for a worthwhile cause rather than protesting against an extra runway at Heathrow. How about unfurling a banner procaliming the "All MPs are lying, robbing b@stards and should be rounded up and shot."?

Government can't win either way. If they use force to get them down then big mean government is using to much force on a peaceful event. Let them stay and the government is accused of not doing anything and a laughing stock.

reply to post by ParanormalShiver


Actually, I think the government would be well within its rights to forcibly remove them. If what they're doing isn't trespassing, it might also be against the law due to where this is taking place... there are certain restrictions in place around Parliament Square to prevent demonstrators doing this kind of thing.

I can understand their cause, I suppose, but I have no sympathy for them when they go to these extremes. I felt exactly the same when Fathers4Justice climbed over the fence of Buckingham Palace, or when they threw purple powder at the Prime Minister, or when the pro-hunters broke into the House of Commons during the debate on the Fox Hunting Bill. There is no need to put your life and the lives of others who have nothing to do with your cause at risk just for a bit of publicity.