Reporter smuggles 'bomb-making gear' into British parliament

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2004

LONDON (AFP) — An undercover journalist smuggled fake bomb-making material into the British parliament, only a day after fox-hunting supporters ran into the House of Commons in a dramatic breach of security, a newspaper reported.

The Sun newspaper said its reporter Anthony France was able to enter the Houses of Parliament Thursday with a bag full of wires, batteries, an alarm clock and plasticine resembling plastic explosives.

He did so less than 24 hours after five opponents of a ban on fox hunting -- some of them close to the royal family -- burst onto the floor of the Commons on Wednesday, triggering a furore over security procedures.

All five men, plus three accomplices, were released on police bail early Friday and told to return to a central London...