Britain launched an inquiry today into the first storming of its parliament since 1647 after a protest stunt revealed shambolic security at the heart of Prime Minister Tony Blair's government.
Eight men opposing a law to ban fox
Five of them, dressed in T-shirts bearing Blair's face, stole through the labyrinthine complex to storm the debating floor, before ceremonial guards dressed in black stockings and tailcoats hauled them away.
One guard in buckled shoes gave chase with a sword dangling from his belt: a show of quaintness that turned Britain, seen as a top terror target, into an international laughing stock.
Police were holding the eight for questioning today as parliamentary and security officials opened investigations.
The break-in took place just two days after a fathers' rights campaigner dressed as Batman scaled a balcony at Queen Elizabeth's Buckingham Palace and four months after Blair was pelted with flour-filled condoms inside the House of Commons.
Heads were expected to roll and a major shake-up of security at Britain's key sites looked inevitable.
Some predicted London would have to scrap its softly-softly approach in favour of US-style, high-profile security.
As armed guards were drafted in to beef up protection at parliament in central London, many Britons were bewildered as to how a handful of men in tights are still allowed to be the last defence for the nation's leaders in the post September 11 thworld.
"The sight of five fit young men being pursued around the Commons chamber by middle-aged officials in frock coats was hilarious," wrote the Sun's political editor Mr Trevor Kavanagh.
"Yet there are alarming implications for the security of this nation ... Had they been carrying explosives, they could have carried out a Beslan-style atrocity," he added.
hunting used a forged letter to enter the landmark Victorian building and were then apparently helped by someone inside with a security pass.