Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has written to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley in an effort to prevent Rejoiner activist Steve Bray from disrupting national events. In a post on X on Wednesday, Badenoch described Bray's actions as a "national embarrassment" and demanded action to stop him from hijacking major occasions with amplified noise.
Background of the incident
The controversy erupted after Bray played the EU's official anthem, Ode to Joy, at high volume during Sir Keir Starmer's resignation speech on Monday, drowning out the Prime Minister's remarks. This is not the first time Bray has disrupted a major political event. In 2024, he blasted Labour's 1997 anthem, Things Can Only Get Better by D:Ream, over a megaphone when Rishi Sunak called a snap General Election.
Badenoch wrote: "Everyone has the right to protest. No one should have the right to hijack national events with amplified noise and deliberate disruption. Steve Bray’s antics are a national embarrassment. I have written to Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley to ask what can be done to stop it."
Steve Bray's history of protests
Bray, known as "Stop Brexit Man," became a fixture outside Parliament after the 2016 Brexit referendum, often shouting "stop Brexit" through a loudspeaker. He now limits his appearances to large events and Wednesdays when Prime Minister’s Questions takes place. In April 2025, he was cleared of breaking a police ban after playing anti-Conservative and anti-Brexit edits of songs outside Parliament a year earlier, successfully arguing it was part of his right to peaceful protest.
He has also demonstrated at the Conservative Party Conference and outside Boris and Carrie Johnson’s wedding.
Bray's defense
In a post on X on Monday, Bray defended playing Ode to Joy, claiming it was played "out of respect (at) background volume." He added: "If you were at Downing Street, there was a man with a megaphone slagging off Labour and Keir constant. It could be heard, so there you go. Not disrespectful in my opinion, but you are entitled to your opinion. It was Ode to Joy or the guy with the megaphone shouting all the way through."
