Banksy friend smokes cannabis in House of Commons while Nick Clegg addresses MPs

Unwanted visitor: The pass Cartrain was given after entering the House of Commons on the day of his crime

A friend of Banksy managed to smuggle a cannabis joint into the House of Commons and then smoke it as Nick Clegg addressed MPs during Prime Minister’s Questions as part of a protest yesterday.



The 18-year-old street-artist, who goes by the pseudonym 'Cartrain', got his drugs through the supposedly tight security and then lit up as the Deputy Prime Minister filled in for David Cameron, who was in China trying to tie up trade deals with Britain.



Cartrain was only stopped when he stood up and shouted "decriminalise cannabis", revealing his illegal actions to police, who rushed over to drag away the teenager and a friend.

The Leytonstone-based artist, who was later released by police with a warning, has in the past been arrested for removing part of Damien Hirst’s Tate Britain installation Pharmacy as part of another protest.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was taking questions from MPs yesterday when the incident occurred

A copy of the street-artist's police stop and account form

He said: 'The security was tighter than at an airport — there were about 20 cops searching people, metal detectors, the works — but I couldn’t believe how easy it was.



'I lit up right in front of Nick Clegg. I must have taken a good four or five pulls on the spliff before the guards realised what I was doing, and then I went quietly.



'They said they would put me in a cell under Big Ben, which I said sounds amazing, like the most expensive hotel in London, but then they decided to let me go when they realised I was quite keen to be arrested.'

His police stop and account form, signed by an officer of the Met’s SO17 Palace of Westminster division, records: 'Stopped in strangers gallery after seen smoking cannabis.'



A spokesman for the House of Commons said: 'Two people were removed from the public gallery of the Commons today for inappropriate behaviour. They were handed over to the police, cautioned and given advice about drugs.'



Cartrain’s previous stunts include sneaking a fake exhibit into the British Museum.



Last year artists including Banksy rallied to support him after he was arrested for taking a packet of pencils — valued at £500,000 — from Hirst’s exhibition after the former Young British Artist’s representatives threatened to sue Cartrain for making collages including photos of Hirst’s work.



