Debate in the U.K. Parliament's lower house was formally suspended for five minutes Thursday, when the announcement of a key policy paper on the nation's planned exit from the European Union descended into chaos after members of parliament complained they hadn't received copies of the document.

In extraordinary scenes at the House of Commons, where newly appointed Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab was supposed to be announcing the controversial policy, members ran out of the room when they heard that copies of it were now available.

They then came running back in carrying boxes of the documents, handing them out to colleagues while Raab was trying to speak.