Bare cheek! Naked protesters flash British MPs

A dozen climate change protesters including a counsellor and a retired charity chief executive have been arrested after stripping off in the House of Commons public gallery.

The activists from Extinction Rebellion stripped to their underwear and glued their hands to surfaces in an attempt to draw attention to the "elephant in the room", the Daily Telegraph reports.

The 14, two of whom were painted grey and wearing elephant masks, included Oliver Baines, 68, former charity chief executive, Bell Selkie, 48, a counsellor, Isla Macleod, 34, a celebrant, Iggy Fox, 24, a wildlife biologist and William Cooke, 36, former teacher and Mark Øvland, 35.

Extinction Rebellion have publicly stated their aim is to get activists arrested and even sent to prison to draw attention to their cause.

The activists took their clothes off as Peter Kyle, the Labour MP, opened the debate for his motion as MPs prepared for a second round of indicative votes.

When a colleague raised a point of order Kyle said that he was grateful for the "cheeky intervention".

Øvland said: "We are impelled to act in this way because the most important and pressing issue of our time is being flagrantly and recklessly ignored by our government and media.

"By undressing in parliament, we are putting ourselves in an incredibly vulnerable position, highlighting the vulnerability that all of us share in the face of environmental and societal breakdown. There is an elephant in the room and it is demanding attention."

12 semi-naked activists who stormed the Commons during the Brexit debate have been arrested on suspicion of outraging public decency https://t.co/2FVDyuix4q pic.twitter.com/SLCPspFD19

— ITV News (@itvnews) April 1, 2019

Baines added: "This is an emergency. We cannot wait. We have to have action from the government now, regardless of any other calls on their time. Our future is in peril."

One activist had 15 April written on his chest, to draw attention to the group's planned "International Rebellion" protest which aims to shut down London for days on end.

Scotland Yard said that 12 people had been arrested for outraging public decency. It is unclear which protesters were held.

Extinction Rebellion was founded in October last year by Roger Hallam, Gail Bradbrook and Simon Bramwell in response to the UN report which warned that there was only 12 years left to limit climate change catastrophe.

They have been linked to a number of high profile protests and shut down five London Bridges last November in a protest which led to 82 arrests.

One of their key demands is that the Government should enact legally binding policy measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025.