THE PARLIAMENT of Romania was forced to abandon a vote of no confidence in the government earlier this morning after a man in the public gallery climbed onto the outside of the balcony and threw himself off it in protest at spending cutbacks.

The man, understood to be the father of a disabled child who had had their benefits cut by the state as part of massive slashes to public spending, caused proceedings in the parliament to be cancelled, AP reported, as emergency medical treatment was sought.

Russia Today, providing the video below, reported that the man shouted the words ‘liberty’ and ‘justice’ as he was brought to hospital. It is thought that he had shouted “You’ve taken away the rights of our children” before he jumped, interrupting the parliamentary proceedings.

He had jumped immediately after Emil Boc, the country’s prime minister, had begun to address parliament on the motion.

The man, who has been identified as Adrian Sobaru, only had access to the parliament because he works as an electrician for SRTV, the national television broadcaster.

He suffered several facial fractures but did not sustain any life-threatening injuries.