Protest on Roof of Parliament

Environmental protesters broke onto the roof of London's Houses of Parliament this morning and unfurled giant banners decrying the government's plans to build a new runway at Heathrow airport.  Five activists, representing a group called Plane Stupid, eluded security to hang banners reading "No third runway" and "BAA headquarters," a reference to the company that runs Heathrow.

Speaking via cell phone to a news station, one of the protesters called the British government "absurdly undemocratic" and said gaining access to the roof was "fairly simple." Today is the last day of discussions in the Commons over construction of the new runway, which is expected to go ahead. In 2005 all protests were banned within a one-kilometer radius of Parliament. (More Heathrow Airport stories.)