Student who interrupted Sir Keir’s speech accuses PM of ‘hypocrisy’
The student who today heckled Sir Keir Starmer during his keynote speech in Liverpool has accused the Prime Minister of ‘hypocrisy’ over the Middle East conflict.
The premier’s speech was coming to a close when activist and Labour member Daniel Riley, 18, started shouting and wagging his finger about the war in Gaza.
Speaking to reporters today after being released by security, Mr Riley, from Jersey, said he wasn’t planning on saying anything but became angry when Sir Keir said he wanted a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon even though ‘he isn’t lifting a finger’.
‘The hypocrisy on how every day we are still sending British bombs and British bullets that are being used in Lebanon and Gaza right now, and the Prime Minister… who could stop that right now, but he doesn’t,’ an enraged Mr Riley said.
Mr Riley, who is the chair of Reform Youth, the youth wing of social democratic political party Reform Jersey, said he hoped to be a Labour member for life ‘but I suspect not now’.
Daniel Riley, 18, heckled Sir Keir Starmer during his keynote speech in Liverpool and has accused the Prime Minister of ‘hypocrisy’ over the Middle East conflict
The premier’s speech was coming to a close when the activist and Labour member started shouting and wagging his finger about the war in Gaza
Asked if he was happy with Sir Keir (pictured here delivering his keynote speech) as Labour leader, Mr Riley said: ‘Absolutely not’
He has since had his party conference pass cancelled and said he was expecting his membership to be permanently revoked.
Mr Riley chuckled as he admitted heckling the PM ‘probably wasn’t worth sacrificing my membership’: ‘But I thought I can’t just sit through this and let him say he wants a ceasefire.’
Asked if he was happy with Sir Keir as Labour leader, he said: ‘Absolutely not. Although it’s not just him, but the party in general and the wider political establishment of taking the action that is required and stopping the genocide.’
Sir Keir, who also had glitter thrown over him at Labour’s conference last year, tried to brush the protest off by quipping to the crowd: ‘This guy has obviously got a pass from the 2019 conference.’
But Mr Riley said he joined in 2022 when Sir Keir was leader with ope he’d be able to change the Labour party.
‘But he hasn’t delivered change, we’ve got the same Tory sleaze with all this stuff about free clothes, free spectacles and free Taylor Swift tickets,’ he said.
The crowd applauded and cheered as Mr Riley, who was wearing a red polo shirt and a lanyard with a Palestine flag on it, was escorted out by security.
Sir Keir smiled and added: ‘While he’s been protesting, we’ve been changing the party. That’s why we’ve got a Labour government.’
It comes after another group of hecklers targeted Chancellor Rachel Reeves‘ speech yesterday. They were also pro-Palestine protesters who were calling for a halt to arms sales in Israel as the Middle East war rages on.
The Labour conference has also been overshadowed by a row over Sir Keir and his Cabinet taking ‘freebies’.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party Conference speech was interrupted by a heckler in Liverpool today
The Labour leader tried to brush the interruption off by joking to the crowd: ‘This guy has obviously got a pass from the 2019 conference.’
The protester started shouting and wagging his finger at Sir Keir Starmer as his speech drew to a close. He was then escorted out of the conference by security guards
It comes after a protester threw glitter over Sir Keir Starmer at the Labour conference last year
Earlier in the speech, Sir Keir had addressed the crisis in the Middle East and the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
But after the PM urged for an ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza, he went on to make an awkward gaffe as he called for the ‘return of the sausages’, seemingly fumbling his words before correcting himself.
He said: ‘I call again for restraint and de-escalation between Lebanon and Israel. I call again for all parties to pull back from the brink.
The latest protest comes after Sir Keir was targeted with glitter at a Labour conference in October 2023.
That protest, which delayed the Labour leader’s speech, was claimed by People Demand Democracy. Sir Keir dusted off the glitter and insisted that the protest did not bother him.
The PM was also targeted at his manifesto launch ahead of the general election, when a protester shouted: ‘My generation is being let down by this party and this manifesto.’
Sir Keir used his keynote speech at the Labour conference to launch a bid to reboot his fledgling premiership as he begged Brits to be ‘patient’ and stick with his ‘painful choices’ rather than go down the ‘road to nowhere’.
The PM struck a more positive tone in his first address to activists since taking power, as he tries to move on from damaging rows over winter fuel allowance, tax hikes and freebies.
Watched by wife Victoria, Sir Keir told the gathering in Liverpool the country can find the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ if the right course is set now.
But he warned there were no ‘easy answers’ and the task would be ‘hard’ – pointing the finger at the Tories for ‘serving themselves’ and pleading with restive Labour supporters to take ‘pride’ in what they were achieving.
18-year-old student Daniel Riley, who heckled the Prime Minister during his speech, speaks to reporters afterwards
Prime Minister Keir Starmer gestures as he delivers his keynote speech during the Labour Party conference
The Prime Minister was later joined on stage by his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer
A group of other hecklers also targeted Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ conference speech yesterday
Acknowledging that he will not ‘get everything right’, Sir Keir said ‘populist’ criticism of his performance so far was ‘water off a duck’s back’.
‘This is a long-term project, I’ve never pretended otherwise. But conference make no mistake, the work of change has begun,’ he said. ‘We’re only just getting started.’
In a nod to voters’ priorities, Sir Keir will also highlight his commitments to tackling high immigration and crack down on benefits fraud.
The speech follows a torrid spell for Labour that saw any feelgood factor from the July election landslide abruptly disappear.
The party has spent weeks fielding difficult questions about the thousands of pounds of gifts received by Sir Keir and senior figures such as Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner.
