Just Stop Oil disrupt Parliament hearing into Coronation protests policing

17 May 2023 , 10:09

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Chairwoman Dame Johnson was hosting the session when it was targeted

Just Stop Oil protesters today interrupted a parliamentary hearing as MPs grilled police chiefs about their handling of demonstrators.

A session of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee was briefly suspended after activists heckled top officers as they gave evidence.

One could be heard saying: “We are here today because …”

Tory Lee Anderson hit back: “Come on officers, arrest them!”

A live feed of the hearing was quickly cut as the protesters were dealt with. It is thought Westminster security officials intervened.

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A message on the Parliament TV feed said: “The proceeding is currently suspended.”

As the broadcast resumed after 58 seconds, chairwoman Dame Diana Johnson said: “We are now back in session.”

A protester holds a placard which states 'This country is ours' during the demonstration. Anti-monarchists staged a protest in Trafalgar Square during the coronation of King Charles III (Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock)

Conservative MP Tim Loughton, who sits on the panel, said: “To be clear, they were Just Stop Oil protesters who tried to undermine the activities of this committee with our witnesses today.”

At the end of the session, Labour MP Dame Diana said: “We take very seriously that parliament should be open to members of the public - that's very important.

“But we also take seriously that we should not be disrupted from our job of scrutinising particularly what happened in this case.”
She thanked security and police who “acted very quickly to ensure that the session could continue”.

Moments before the interruption, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist and the National Police Chiefs Council’s Chief Constable Chris Noble were telling senior backbenchers on the cross-party committee about how they dealt with policing King Charles III’s Coronation earlier this month.

Police were heavily criticised for targeting republican campaigners in the run-up to the royal spectacle.

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Ben Glaze