Prankster hands PM May P45(Pink Slip) during conference speech
*In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a P45 is the reference code of a form titled Details of employee leaving work. The term is used in British slang as a for termination of employment. The equivalent slang term in the United States is pink slip.
Gotta luv the Brits..
A prankster disrupted Theresa May’s speech at the Conservative party conference, waving a P45 at the prime minister on the podium before security guards tackled him.
Simon Brodkin, who sometimes performs as a character called Lee Nelson and famously showered the then Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, with fake banknotes, was dragged out of the hall pursued by journalists. “Boris told me to do it,” he said, referring to the foreign secretary.
Theresa May said she wanted to offer voters the “British dream” in a personal speech that attempted to shift the focus from Brexit in-fighting to domestic policy but was interrupted by a protester – and a frog in her throat.
A scrum of photographers and security guards surrounded him, and members began chanting “out, out, out” as May was forced to pause her speech, tripping over her words.
Guardian Today: the headlines, the analysis, the debate - sent direct to you
Read more
In the scrum, several cameramen tripped over as the Brodkin was taken down the steps of the conference hall and into the security area.
May restarted her speech with a quip that she would like to give a P45 to the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, receiving a standing ovation from members in the hall.
The incident is likely to raise significant questions about the security at the conference, with Brodkin having been allowed to wave the P45 at May for several seconds before he was pulled away. He is believed to have been wearing official accreditation, and after his stunt made his way over to Boris Johnson, standing near him for around 30 seconds.
A picture of the “P45” posted by ITV political editor Robert Peston showed the “reason for termination” given – supposedly by Johnson – as “neither strong nor stable” and “we’re a bit worried about Jezza”.
Link to tweet
Link to tweet
