May 20 (Bloomberg) -- Two men were charged over yesterday's incident in which powder was thrown at U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair at the House of Commons.

Patrick Ronald Davis, 48, of Worthing, Sussex, and Guy Richard Harrison, 36, of Ashurst, Steyning, Sussex, were charged with using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior at the House of Commons on May 19, said Paul Clark, a spokesman for New Scotland Yard.

No one was injured in the incident. Fathers 4 Justice, a group that campaigns for rights for fathers to visit their children after divorces, claimed responsibility via an e-mailed statement.

Blair was hit by colored powder as he took questions in the House of Commons, suspending the country's Parliament and spurring concerns about the prospect of a terrorist attack on government.

Protesters lobbed the harmless purple powder from the visitors gallery. Blair flinched after the attack then left the chamber with other lawmakers, who waved papers to clear the dust.

The anti-terrorist police branch known as SO13 began an investigation. Earlier this year, a glass screen separating people in the gallery from the chamber was installed after security services warned of a possible threat. The protesters were sitting in an area that wasn't covered by the screen.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown also was hit by the purple powder and was unhurt.

Last month, Greenpeace activists were arrested after scaling the tower of Big Ben. In February, the Commons chamber was evacuated when protesters shouted ``whitewash'' and ``illegal war'' as a report by Lord Hutton cleared Blair of wrongdoing in the death of David Kelly, a senior civil servant.

Queen

Police were already considering how to tighten security surrounding Queen Elizabeth II after Aaron Barshak crashed Prince William's 21st birthday party in June 2003, dressed as Osama Bin Laden and pretending to be a comedian. Also last year, Mirror reporter Ryan Parry got a job as a footman to the Queen in Buckingham Palace and wrote about it in the newspaper to expose lax security.

The two men charged in yesterday's incident are free on bail. They are prohibited from entering the borough of Westminster except to attend legal proceedings, according to Clark. The law the men have been charged under is part of the Public Order Act of 1986.

They must appear before Bow Street Magistrates on May 26 at 10 a.m.

To contact the reporters on this story: Robert Hutton in the London newsroom landberg@bloomberg.net. Kate Ryan in the London newsroom at kryan18@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 20, 2004 12:56 EDT