‘He could have had a knife’: Fury over light-touch Labour conference security after ‘idiot’ protester poured glitter over Keir Starmer on stage with attendees STILL able to walk in ‘without any real searches’
- Concerns after protester was able to hold onto Sir Keir for several seconds
- Party conference attendees claim bag searches are ‘the worst they’ve seen’
- Labour wants to reclassify ‘low-quality’ green belt land to build more homes
Labour MPs have reacted with fury at light-touch conference security after a protester was able to get on stage and pour glitter over leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Yaz Ashmawi, 28, rushed the stage before Sir Keir gave his big pitch to be Britain’s next prime minister, yelling that ‘democracy is in crisis’ as he poured the sparkly material over the former public prosecutor’s head unchallenged.
The Labour leader – who still appeared to have some glitter on his face this morning – joked about the experience today, saying it would take more than one ‘idiot’ to derail his plan to take power at the next election.
But party sources were treating it more seriously, pointing out that if he had been armed with something more sinister it could have been a lot worse.
Others reported that conference security was still light today, on the last day of the event in Liverpool.
While the Tory conference in Manchester last week had airport-style security, at Labour there were brief bag manual bag searches by security staff this morning, while those without bags were able to enter unchecked.
Following Ashmawi’s publicity stunt, one member of parliament said: ‘A lot of people are really worried about the security.
‘He could have had a knife or anything. They are going to need the airport security arches from now on.
‘You can’t have this happening. People have been able to just walk in without any real searches.’
The Labour leader was just about to start his speech when a protester identified as Yaz Ashmawi, 28, ran up to the podium and started shouting and seemed to throw something on his jacket
The Labour leader joked about the experience today, saying it would take more than one ‘idiot’ to derail his plan to take power at the next election.
Deputy party leader Angela Rayner (top) told LBC she thought she might have to ‘do a John Prescott’ – a reference to the former deputy prime minister who once punched a protester who threw an egg at him (above). She told LBC: ‘Although Rachel (Reeves, the shadow chancellor) was nearly beating me to it. She’s from Leeds – I’ve never seen her be so angry.’
Sir Keir told Times Radio that when he saw the protester mount the Liverpool stage ‘my overwhelming feeling was ”I am not going to let you ruin four years of hard work in this party”’.
Asked if he feared for his safety, he said: ‘I just wanted to get on with the speech and that’s why I rolled up my sleeves and got on with it.
‘I didn’t want that idiot to interrupt that and I don’t want that idiot to dominate what I’ve got to say today.’
Ashmawi, a one-time Extinction Rebellion spokesperson who describes himself as ‘a bit of a weird one’ , bounded onto the stage and gripped Sir Keir’s hand as he yelled: ‘True democracy is citizen-led. Politics needs an update.’
The Labour leader looked bemused and tried to keep Ashmawi at arm’s length until security tackled the protester and led him off stage.
Sir Keir then brushed off the glitter, and told a cheering conference: ‘If he thinks that bothers me he doesn’t know me.’
Meanwhile, deputy party leader Angela Rayner told LBC she thought she might have to ‘do a John Prescott’ – a reference to the former deputy prime minister who once punched a protester who threw an egg at him.
She told LBC: ‘Although Rachel (Reeves, the shadow chancellor) was nearly beating me to it. She’s from Leeds – I’ve never seen her be so angry.’
Mr Ashmawi physically had hold of Sir Keir before security arrived
Starmer pushed him away just as his speech was about to start
Mr Ashmawi yelled at Keir Starmer calling for a change to the political system
The protester was wearing a T-Shirt advertising the new People Demand Democracy group
Mr Ashmawi was wrestled to the ground by security after his protest, with Sir Keir resuming his speech saying he was not ‘bothered’
Sir Keir was left rubbing glitter from his hair after the extraordinary incident
The protester is demanding the current political model in the UK is torn down using civil disobedience
Mr Ashmawi – who has his own website – describes himself as an Extinction Rebellion strategist and has acted as their spokesman
The incident raises questions about Sir Keir’s personal protection and conference security as a whole. One attendee said bag searches were ‘the worst I’ve ever seen’ while others said security measures were ‘cursory’ and ‘utterly terrible’
Questions have been raised as to why Mr Ashmawi was able to reach the stage and put his arms around the opposition leader for several seconds before bodyguards tackled him to the ground.
Laura McConnell, chairwoman of Edinburgh East Labour, wrote: ‘Worrying how long it took security to get there. Very glad it was only glitter and that Keir is ok.
‘Unfortunately, in the world we live in, the toxic rhetoric around politics does leave you worried.’
READ MORE – Revealed: Protester, 28, who dumped glitter over Keir Starmer is XR activist and photographer from Surrey
Evie Aspinall, president of the British Foreign Policy Group think tank, is attending the conference – and echoed security concerns shared by others.
She tweeted: ‘Security for Labour conference has been utterly terrible. The least officious bag searches I’ve ever seen. So unsuprised this (the glitter incident) happened.’
Wildlife campaigner Dominic Dyer, who is also at the event, added: ‘No airport security scanners at Labour conference just cursory check on bags.
‘Keir Stamer was lucky today, that man could have had a knife. We need better security for politicians not least looking at events in Middle East at moment.’
Merseyside Police confirmed a 28-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of assault, breach of the peace and causing public nuisance.
Labour has seemingly downplayed the incident, with a spokesperson telling BBC News that Sir Keir leader was ‘fine’ and ‘completely unfazed by what happened’.
The spokesperson added: ‘It shows his strength of character that he got on and delivered the speech of his life.’
MailOnline has contacted the party for further comment. But the extraordinary incident will raise huge concerns about the protection for the Opposition leader.
It is the second time during this year’s event that an interloper managed to get to the podium.
People Demand Democracy, a political splinter group with links to XR and Just Stop Oil, claimed responsibility for the incident, saying they are a ‘new group calling for an upgrade to the UK political system using civil disobedience’.
JSO also shared footage of the stage-invasion linking it to their demand that Sir Keir ‘commits to revoking the oil and gas licenses granted by this zombie Tory government’.
After being showered in glitter, Sir Keir was cheered as he took off his jacket and continued after the man was removed saying:’ He also joked that he was glad it hadn’t happened to his wife Victoria because her dress was ‘beautiful’.
The incident raises questions about the Labour leader’s personal protection and security at the conference on Merseyside. Those at the event had already criticised how search points at the Exhibition Centre Liverpool has no security arches with rudimentary bag searches instead.
They appear to be demanding that the first-past-the-post system used at general elections to be abandoned, declaring on their new website: ‘The UK needs a proportional voting so every vote counts and a permanent Citizens’ Assembly made up of people from all walks of life to discuss major long term issues without party political pressures’.
It came after one of JSO’s main funders, Dale Vince, distanced himself from the group to back Labour instead.
People Demand Democracy, whose Twitter account had just ten followers this morning, wrote to Sir Keir on September 4 warning they would direct action against him if they ignored them.
They demanded: ‘We urge you, the leader of the Labour Party, to announce that you will hold new national elections with a proportional voting system and set up a House of Citizens within six months of getting into office.
‘We encourage you to embrace this upgrade to our democracy: proportional voting so every vote counts and a permanent Citizens’ Assembly made up of people from all walks of life to discuss major long term issues without party political pressures.
‘If you do not do so by 30th September, People Demand Democracy will take proportionate action to get our message across to you and the Labour Party leadership. We are left with no other choice but to take a stand for what’s right and take back our power as citizens’.
And less than two weeks after the deadline, a member of the group stormed the stage.
Protester Yaz Ashmawi interrupts the keynote speech of Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer
Starmer was completely unprotected
Security were slow to react, taking several seconds to reach Sir Keir as the protester gripped his hand
Sir Keir’s wife Victoria was watching in the audience, as he said he was glad the protest had not ruined her ‘beautiful’ dress
Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria Starmer kiss as the speech ended
Soon after the attack the group People Demand Democracy, which apparently has links to Just Stop Oil, shared this tweet
PDM sent this letter to Mr Starmer warning they would act
Unlike the Tory gathering Labour conference has delegates speaking during debates in the main hall, and the numbers in the audience are far higher.
Sir Keir used the speech to claim the ‘tide is turning’ for Labour today as he gives potentially his last conference speech before an election.
Sir Keir insisted he is the leader to ‘heal’ the country – but warned it will require a ‘decade of national renewal’. Sir Keir said he had turned Labour into a ‘party of service’, ‘renewed’ after the Corbyn era.
Keir’s big ideas
- Reclassify ‘low quality’ green belt to allow more homes to be built
- Boost devolution by giving all towns and cities in England new powers and funding
- Boost borrowing to invest in the economy while ensuring debt is falling over long-term
- Close tax loopholes for the ‘wealthy’ while protecting ordinary workers from more pain
- Encourage doctors to work more overtime to help stabilise the NHS
- Crack down on government waste to save ‘billions’ and recover Covid fraud cash
- Order police to tackle lower-value shoplifting and create specific offence for assaulting retail staff
Sir Keir praised the spirit of the British people despite the ‘Tory project to kick the hope out of this country’.
Promising to reshape the country with 1.5 million homes including new towns, modernised infrastructure and support for green industries, Sir Keir said ‘the fire of change still burns in Britain’ and it ‘lives on in Labour’.
With a general election next year and Labour enjoying double-digit poll leads, Sir Keir warned that the ‘dangerous’ Tories would ‘scorch the earth just to get at us’.
And if he did win the keys to No 10, the scale of the challenge would be immense compared with his predecessors.
‘If you think our job in 1997 was to rebuild a crumbling public realm, that in 1964 it was to modernise an economy left behind by the pace of technology, in 1945 to build a new Britain out of the trauma of collective sacrifice, then in 2024 it will have to be all three.’
Sir Keir put reforming the ‘restrictive planning system’ at the core of his plan to secure economic growth.
The system was ‘a blockage that stops this country building roads, grid connections, laboratories, trainlines, warehouses, windfarms, power stations’ and ‘an obstacle to the aspirations of millions’.
The plan to ‘get Britain building again’ would ‘fight the blockers who hold a veto over British aspiration’.
The 1.5 million homes promised by would involve new development corporations with powers to cut through red tape and the creation of the ‘next generation of Labour new towns’.
He insisted his plans would not mean ‘tearing up the green belt’ but building could take place in areas where that protection was ‘clearly ridiculous’.
Keir Starmer pictured arriving at conference with wife Victoria before delivering his big speech, which started badly
Worryingly for the Tories , their standing has actually gone backwards since Rishi Sunak wrapped up their conference last week
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