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House of Lords in SHOCK as protesters take direct action in the chamber

Assemble is a group which has been helping to set up local community assemblies around the country. And it has just rained leaflets down onto the House of Lords calling for a House of the People.

The leaflets said:

NEVER MIND THE LORDS LETS HAVE A HOUSE OF THE PEOPLE

ARISTOCRATS & OLIGARCHS: OUT

POSTIES, MUMS, NURSES, AND NEIGHBOURS: IN

REPLACE THE HOUSE OF LORDS TO SAVE THE UK

The assemblies that Assemble has been supporting encourage local people to deliberate on important local, national, and international issues, and on the potential solutions to them. And in 2024, Assemble launched the House of the People to bring together representatives from local assemblies in different parts of the country.

Building the House of the People – not the House of Lords

An Assemble press release said six individuals “showered members of the House of Lords with 1,000 handbills” from the viewing gallery. The group is “inviting members of the public to take part in the inaugural House of the People in Summer 2025”, and:

There is an open call on Thursday 27th March for members of the public interested in taking part in a House of the People.

It added:

Today’s action has been taken in support of the abolition of the House of Lords in favour of a House of the People – a new institution where any adult in the UK may be selected to serve, like a jury, to set the political agenda and balance the House of Commons. This action mirrors one undertaken by Suffragettes on October 28th 1908, where they took direct action by raining handbills onto the House of Commons, demanding suffrage for women in the UK.

“We need to hand the power back to the people with participatory politics”

Quoting Christina Jenkins, a care worker who took part in the protest, insisted:

We need a People’s House, not a house of wealthy elites. Lords: give up your seat! How can we [have] a real democracy when we’re only given the chance to vote once every five years? Even then, so many people don’t vote because their voices still go unheard.

And she stressed:

We need to hand the power back to the people with participatory politics like citizens’ assemblies if we stand any chance of addressing the real issues facing Britain.

Fellow protester Árainn Justin Hawker, meanwhile, explained:

I am taking action today because I believe British politics is broken and our democracy desperately needs renewal. The current system is dominated by corporate interests and I see a “House of the People” as our best hope for change.

Featured image and additional images/video supplied

By Ed Sykes

This post was originally published on Canary.