This has been a banner week for several legislatures in the Western world. First came the sit-in at the US House of Representatives. Unrelated was the UK Prime Minister's Question Time following the Brexit referendum, which was closely followed by Jean-Claude Juncker telling Nigel Farage to leave the European Parliament. Parliamentary and Congressional activities often seem dull, but this week it's been high drama all the way.
Democrats in the US House of Representatives staged a day-long sit-in on the House floor in order to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with Congressional inaction on gun violence following the shooting in Orlando. During the sit-in, Congress was in recess, so the usual cameras were shut off in accordance with House rules. As a result, members streamed their experiences on Periscope and Facebook, which had the end effect of making the entire thing much more accessible to millennials than it would have been if it had only been on CSPAN.
David Cameron was faced with a dissatisfied set of MPs after the Brexit referendum. Here is the statement he made before being peppered with questions by the MPs.
The European Parliament has a history of sometimes dramatic behavior, like earlier this year when a Greek MEP was thrown out of the European Parliament for racist remarks, but this week was much more exciting.
First UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage was booed as he made a victory lap of sorts in the European Parliament and proceeded to tell his coworkers that they knew nothing of work or job creation.
Then Juncker, president of the European Commission, asked the UK why they were still there if they voted to leave the EU.
Alyn Smith, an MEP from Scotland, received a standing ovation after making a statement about how Scotland remained loyal to the EU despite the referendum results.
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