A campaigner against Heathrow Airport’s third runway has attempted to glue himself to Gordon Brown at a Downing Street reception.

Dan Glass, a member of Plane Stupid, was about to receive an award from the prime minister when he stuck out his superglued hand and touched his sleeve.

Plane Stupid says Mr Glass, from north London, then “glued his hand” to Mr Brown’s jacket as he shook his hand.

But Downing Street said there had been “no stickiness of any significance”.

I’m not going to link to Indymedia, but, according to them, Glass’s MSc thesis in “Human Ecology and Climate Change” at Strathclyde University is about “the impacts of airport expansion on community cohesion”, which is science in the same way my painting my face with woad and gurning at sheep would be science. Glass’s lacking any rigorous training might have had something to do with his failure to choose the right adhesive for the job or, indeed, bring enough of it along with him:

Speaking afterwards, Mr Glass said: “My left hand was covered in superglue and I stuck it to his sleeve.

“I just glued myself to him and after 20 seconds he tore my hand off – it really hurt. He had to give it a couple of tugs before it came away.

“He was just grinning about it. He didn’t seem to take me seriously.”

After the incident Mr Glass was allowed to stay in Downing Street for 40 minutes.

When he left the building he tried to glue himself to the gates of Downing Street but had his hand detached by a police officer.

“I didn’t have much glue left by that point,” he said.

Mr Glass was invited to Downing Street to receive an award from the Sheila McKechnie Foundation for his protesting work with Plane Stupid.

Glass might have been a security risk, but I think detaching his hand was a bit harsh.