LONDON (Reuters) - A group of semi-naked climate change protesters created a stir in Britain's parliament on Monday, pressing themselves up against the glass screen of a public gallery overlooking the chamber while lawmakers attempted to debate Brexit.
As lawmakers started yet another day of lengthy debate on how or even whether Britain should leave the European Union, around a dozen protesters stripped to their underpants to show slogans painted on their backs, including "Climate justice now".
The incident lasted around 25 minutes; some glued their hands to the glass and had to be removed by police, who later said 12 people had been arrested for "outraging public decency".
Several lawmakers could not stop themselves looking up at the gallery, some giggling as Labour lawmaker Peter Kyle argued that the government must hold a confirmatory vote on any Brexit deal by pointing out what he called the "naked truth".
The activists were from a group named Extinction Rebellion, according to a press release sent during the protest. The group said they wanted to "draw politicians’ attention to the Climate and Ecological Crisis".
(Reporting by William James and Kylie MacLellan, writing by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
