PROTESTERS have brought business in the House of Lords to a halt after disrupting proceedings from the public gallery.
Shouts could be heard from the viewing platform which hangs over the unelected second chamber on Thursday afternoon.
Protesters could be heard chanting: “Lords out, people in.”
They also sang and threw leaflets down at unelected peers, resulting in business being adjourned for a few minutes.
One member could be heard saying: “I’m sorry, let’s pause for a second.”
Labour’s Baroness Twycross had been speaking about the death of John “Paddy” Hemingway, the last surviving Battle of Britain pilot, when the protest broke out.
Her party rowed back its pledge to abolish the upper chamber, one of the few in the world with places reserved for religious clerics, before last year’s election.
Labour have instead committed to ridding the chamber of the 92 remaining hereditary peers, who inherit their place through bloodline.
They have however, installed their own new members in the Conservative-dominated chamber.
New Labour peers include Sue Gray, who briefly served as Keir Starmer’s chief of staff after coming to power, and ousted Bristol MP Thangam Debbonaire, who lost her seat at the 2024 General Election.
A House of Lords spokesperson said: "We are aware of an incident in the public gallery, after which the House briefly adjourned but has now resumed. We will not be commenting further at this time."
