Protest in parliament today: demonstrators stage sit-in at Houses of Parliament - what was it about?

Demonstrators staged a sit-in protest at the Houses of Parliament shortly after Rishi Sunak was announced as the next Prime Minister.

The group were seen sitting down in the central lobby of the Westminster building, with a crowd of around 30 taking part. Their protest was also - partially - caught on camera, after Sky News correspondent Jon Craig had a live broadcast interrupted by parliament security staff.

Here’s everything we know about the protest.

What happened during the Greenpeace protest?

The demonstrators staged a sit-in protest in the middle of Central Lobby in the Houses of Parliament at around 3pm. The group was made up of campaigners from Greenpeace and Fuel poverty Action.

The protest involved members of the group standing up individually and telling of how the cost of living crisis has personally affected them. They also held a huge banner which read “chaos costs lives”.

Greenpeace UK’s co-executive director, Will McCallum, said that the action was taken to call on new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to take action on rising energy bills. He said: “Rishi Sunak should have realised by now the huge mistake he made by blocking plans for warmer homes and failing to properly tax fossil fuel giants.

“People need permanently lower bills and a safe climate, and that means more renewable energy, more financial support, a nationwide street-by-street insulation programme, and a proper tax on the energy profiteers to pay for it.”

Ruth London, from Fuel Poverty Action, called for support for their “energy for all” proposal, giving each household enough free energy to cover basics such as heating, cooking and lighting, paid for windfall taxes, ending fossil fuel subsidies and higher prices for excess energy use.

What happened during Sky News broadcast?

The moment the protest began was caught on camera, with Sky News continuing its political coverage live from Parliament. Correspondent Jon Craig had been interviewing Conservative MPs Rebecca Pow and Laura Farris about Sunak’s selection as Tory leader when unassuming members of the public were seen behind them running to sit on the ground.

Craig continued his interview with the pair, however Parliament staff were quick to attempt to shut down the broadcast. A security guard could be seen coming into shot to disrupt the interview, to which the journalist replied: “We’re in the middle of an interview.”

Farris and Pow continued speaking to Craig before the interview was cut after the security guard stood in front of the camera. The camera had been placed behind where the protesters were sitting, meaning that viewers were initially left in the dark about what the deomstration was about.