An investigation is underway after a mobile phone was hidden in the House of Commons as part of a prank to play ‘sex noises’ during PMQs, it has emerged.
Parliament officials are said to be probing a major breach of security ahead of Sir Keir Starmer‘s exchanges with Kemi Badenoch in the chamber yesterday.
The phone was planted near the Commons front bench and was due to play a sexually explicit audio recording as the Prime Minister faced the Tory leader, according to The Times.
But the device was found during a routine sweep before PMQs yesterday afternoon, the newspaper added.
A source said: ‘It looks like it was just a prank but it could have been much worse. We don’t know how it got there.’
The Commons chamber is open to the public on most mornings and the incident will raise fresh concerns about MPs’ safety.
In 2019, a group of semi-naked climate protesters from Extinction Rebellion interrupted a Commons debate on Brexit.
They glued their hand to the glass of the public gallery and spent almost 20 minutes with their buttocks facing the chamber.
An investigation is underway after a mobile phone was hidden in the House of Commons as part of a prank to play ‘sex noises’ during Prime Minister’s Questions
Parliament officials are said to be probing a major breach of security ahead of Sir Keir Starmer’s exchanges with Kemi Badenoch in the chamber on Wednesday
In 2019, a group of semi-naked climate protesters from Extinction Rebellion interrupted a Commons debate on Brexit.
A glass partition between the public gallery and the rest of the Commons chamber was erected at a cost of £1.4million after an incident in 2004 when condoms full of purple flour were thrown at Tony Blair during PMQs.
It prompted an evacuation of the Commons by MPs, with the Fathers 4 Justice campaign group claiming responsibility.
The reported Commons prank on Wednesday bears similarities to an incident in 2023 when sex noises disrupted the BBC’s live football coverage.
Noises from a porn clip were heard as Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker spoke during pre-match build-up before a Wolves v Liverpool fixture.
A planted mobile phone was subsequently discovered and a YouTube prankster claimed responsibility.
A Parliament spokesperson said: ‘Parliament is a public building and we facilitate the visits of thousands of people to the estate each week.
‘The safety and security of everyone who works or visits here remains our top priority, and we have robust and proactive security measures in place.
‘This includes ensuring that visitors and their belongings are security screened, along with monitoring and routine searches of areas that are open to the public.
‘Whilst we cannot comment on the detail of our processes, we can confirm that a mobile phone was removed from the Commons chamber on 3 September – demonstrating the effectiveness of the security measures we have in operation.’
