Protester climbs on UK Parliament roof

LONDON - A lone protester from a group campaigning for the rights of divorced fathers climbed onto the roof of Britain's Houses of Parliament on Tuesday and unfurled a flag while police officers watched.

The protest group, Fathers 4 Justice, has staged several stunts in the past including scaling the walls of Queen Elizabeth's London residence and pelting Prime Minister Tony Blair with coloured flour while he was addressing parliament.

Britain's capital London has been on high alert ever since four suicide bombers blew themselves up on July 7, killing 52 commuters and injuring hundreds more. Four more would-be bombers botched similar attacks two weeks later.

Fathers 4 Justice said the protester was a man called Guy Harrison -- one of those who threw dyed flour at Blair -- and that the banner he unfurled read: "Does Blair Care?"

A spokesman for the group said Harrison broke away from a public tour of parliament, climbed through a window, up a ladder and onto the roof. "It was really simple stuff," he said.

The protester came down of his own accord about five hours later and was arrested for aggravated trespass, a police spokeswoman said. He was taken to a nearby police station for questioning.

Police offered no immediate explanation of how Harrison, who was fined for the flour-throwing episode, had got onto the tour or smuggled the large banner through security checks. Parliament was not in session.

Harrison told Sky News television had not seen his daughter for three and a half years, despite obtaining four court orders granting access.

"They are not worth the paper they are printed on. We are just trying to highlight the fact that fathers are badly treated," he said by telephone from the roof.

Ron Davis, the other man who flour-bombed Blair but who was not involved in Tuesday's protest, told Reuters they had decided against carrying out the protest at the annual conference of the ruling Labour Party in Brighton, to avoid being seen as a terrorist threat.

"They left the door open here (parliament). Security is very tight in Brighton and there would have been a risk of someone getting hurt. We wouldn't want one of our people to get injured or to put the police in that position," he said by telephone.

- REUTERS