Ed Miliband's goggle-eyed reaction to naked protesters in Commons

Megan White2 April 2019
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Ed Miliband has prompted laughs after he was caught goggle-eyed staring at a group of semi-naked protesters who stormed the House of Commons during a Brexit debate.

The former Labour leader was seen on camera along with MPs who were staring agog at the nude environmental activists after they stripped off in the public gallery.

The scantily clad Extinction Rebellion protesters glued themselves to the front of the public gallery, leaving little to the imagination.

They had phrases including "climate justice now" and "eco collapse" painted on their bodies.

Mr Miliband looked aghast after seeing the nudity while Labour's Peter Kyle opened the debate for his motion in Monday's indicative votes.

After the protesters made their presence known, he continued his speech with the words: "The naked truth is, Mr Speaker..."

And when a colleague made a point of order, he added: "I am grateful for the cheeky intervention..."

"He is fleshing out his argument very well," Tory MP Justine Greening interjected.

Mr Miliband’s reaction prompted hilarious reactions on Twitter, with some saying he “just can’t look away.”

He even joined in the fun himself, tweeting an eyes emoji with a link to a story about the protesters.

The Met Police said 12 arrests had been made for outraging public decency after the incident.

Police officers were forced to remove protesters, with soap spray required in some cases to peel the activists from the glass.

Extinction Rebellion has staged huge demonstrations in London over recent months, often bringing busy roads and bridges to a standstill.

The group, which describes itself as a non-violent direct action and civil disobedience group, said the latest protest was an attempt to draw politicians' attentions to the "climate and ecological crisis".

The body paint and elephant masks were used "to bring the message that politicians neglect of the climate crisis has become an elephant in the room", a spokeswoman said

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