In the first protest of what Extinction Rebellion will be a month of protests and disruptions, environmental activists have entered Britain’s parliament and glued themselves around the Speaker’s chair.

The group posted a photo on Twitter on Friday showing five people inside the House of Commons debating chamber holding banners reading “Let the people decide” and “Citizens’ Assembly now”.

Parliament is not sitting and a spokesperson for the House of Commons said staff were dealing with the situation.

“We are in crisis and what goes on in this room every single day makes a joke out of all of us, we cannot afford to go on like this. We need a new way of making decisions where more voices are heard,” one of the protestors inside parliament said in a video.

The group also hung a banner from scaffolding on the iconic Westminster building while other protestors padlocked themselves to gates outside.

Scores of protesters

Certain areas of the parliamentary estate are open to the public, although access to the debating chamber is usually restricted to guided tours.

Extinction Rebellion, a group which has previously caused days of traffic chaos in central London, typically protests about climate change issues.

Fifty people were involved in the latest stunt, which began the first phase of their September plans, the group said.

They said three protestors had been booked on an official tour of the building.

The incident is likely to raise security concerns around how visitors to the estate, who are routinely screened by guards on entry, were able to access the room in which the country’s prime minister and elected politicians regularly speak.

-AAP