While some view the British parliament as a symbol of political stasis since the 2016 Brexit referendum, other Brits have utilised Westminster’s symbolic power to press – literally and figuratively – for faster action on climate change.

On Monday, members of climate change action group Extinction Rebellion stripped half-naked in the House of Common’s glass-walled public gallery during a Brexit debate, and some appeared to have glued themselves to the glass.

I see we’ve reached the naked people in parliament stage of Brexit

— Patrick Smith (@psmith) April 1, 2019

As MPs started yet another day of lengthy debate on how or even whether the country should leave the European Union, 14 protesters stripped to their underpants to show slogans painted on their backs, including: “Climate justice now”.

"It has long been a thoroughly British trait to be able to ignore pointless nakedness" – Conservative MP Nick Boles references naked protesters in the Commons during #Brexit debate

Live updates: https://t.co/GQkj0bPxqF pic.twitter.com/L33eV1ioAd

— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) April 1, 2019

Members of the Metropolitan Police questioned the protesters after their action.

Several MPs could not stop themselves from looking up towards the public gallery, some giggling as Labour MP Peter Kyle tried to defend his bid to force the government to stage a confirmatory vote on its Brexit deal by pointing out what he called the “naked truth”.

There’s a naked protest in the House of Commons and MPs just can’t look awayhttps://t.co/61uUU6n5Ax pic.twitter.com/qQfzpO2kXm

— Mirror Politics (@MirrorPolitics) April 1, 2019