Jedi petition UN for religious rights

Can you feel the force?

Two Jedi this morning turned up at the UN's London HQ to demand official recognition of their religion, The Sun reports.

"Umada" and "Yunyun" - aka 27-year-old John Wilkinson and 24-year-old Charlotte Law - timed their "protest" to coincide with today's UN International Day of Tolerance, which they'd like renamed "Interstellar Day of Tolerance".

Wilkinson said: "We have come here today to ask that we are recognised as the fourth largest religion in this country."

Indeed, more than 390,000 Brits are practising Jedi, according to the 2001 census. Brighton is the country's principal centre of Jedi activity, with 6,480 professing to follow the faith.

Chewbacca was also on hand to petition the UN, and said via translator Yunyun: "It is not fair that there are lots of different life forces across the galaxy that are not getting recognised." ®