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Someone touched Parliament's special mace, and British Twitter is losing it

Brexit negotiations are getting wild.

Morgan Sung

on December 10, 2018

Forget surgery on a grape. After Prime Minister Theresa May postponed the parliamentary vote on her contentious Brexit deal, Labour representative Lloyd Russell-Moyle defiantly marched to the center of the room, picked up the mace — which looks like a large, fancy club — and attempted to leave with it.

Fellow members of Parliament were horrified by the statement. The mace is a "symbol of royal authority" and without it, the House can't meet or pass laws.

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Russell-Moyle was met with an angry uproar as fellow MPs shouted at him to "put it back." He attempted to leave with the massive gold club, but was stopped at the door and asked to "withdraw from the chamber," according to the Guardian.

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Twitter users quickly reacted with jokes.

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It's been nearly 10 years since the last time someone made a grab for the ceremonial mace. In Jan 2009, Labour MP John McDonnell called the governing body's refusal to hold a vote a "disgrace to the democracy of this country" as he picked up the mace and put it down on a nearby bench.

British government scandals really are something else.

Topics Memes