Protesters have disrupted a House of Lords session commemorating the 80th anniversary of VE Day with calls for the abolition of the upper chamber.
About six people in the Lords public gallery interrupted the culture minister, Lady Twycross, shouting: “Lords out, people in”. They threw leaflets into the chamber reading: “Never mind the Lords, here’s the House of People” as they continued to chant, prompting officials to pause the session for about five minutes as they were escorted out.
Other leaflets thrown read: “Aristocrats & oligarchs: out. Posties, mums, nurses and neighbours: in. Replace the House of Lords to save the UK.”
The organisers of the protest, Time to Assemble, had hoped to coincide it with a debate on the 75th anniversary of the European convention on human rights, because they believe democracy has deteriorated across the world.
The group wants to replace the unelected upper chamber with a “House of the People” that it believes should be more representative of the population. Their assembly would be selected by sortition, a process by which members of the public would be picked randomly through a lottery.
Bertie Coyle, a spokesperson from the group, said: “What’s the big idea? For a House of the People to replace the House of Lords. Anyone in the UK can take part. It’s free and open to the public. It’s owned by everyone.
“It’s funded by our donations. It will fairly represent all groups in our society – but whisper that part, because the corporations who influence parliament won’t like it one bit.”
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One peer expressed their disappointment that the protest had coincided with the debate on VE Day, but said the chamber would “keep calm and carry on, just as they [veterans] would have done”.
