Police on Thursday charged two men accused of causing a major security scare by disrupting the House of Commons and hitting Prime Minister Tony Blair with purple flour.
Patrick Ronald Davis, 48, and Guy Richard Harrison, 36, were charged with violating the Public Order Act during Wednesday's session of prime minister's questions.
Both were released on bail pending an appearance on Wednesday at Bow Street Magistrates Court.
PHOTO: EPA
Fearing a possible terrorist attack, Speaker Michael Martin ordered the House of Commons evacuated on Wednesday after a small container of purple flour hit Blair in the back. The prime minister was not hurt, and the powder was quickly determined to be harmless.
The incident underlined the need to change "old-fashioned" attitudes toward security in Parliament, a government minister said on Thursday.
"We want close contact between voters and citizens and members of Parliament, but it needs to be in a proper modern security environment," Peter Hain, the leader of the House of Commons, told Sky News TV.
"We're talking about an age of suicide terror attacks, not 20 or 30 years ago and there's, I'm afraid, a bit of an old-fashioned culture around the Palace of Westminster," he added.
It was a major security breach in the Commons, which recently put up a bulletproof, transparent screen to protect legislators from possible attacks from the public gallery. Wednesday's two protesters, from a group campaigning on child custody issues, were invited guests of a member of the House of Lords, and were seated in an area in front of the security screen.
On Thursday, the government called in MI5, Britain's security service, to help tighten security at parliament. House of Commons leader Peter Hain met with a top MI5 official, and radical new security measures were expected to be introduced soon.
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