Steve Bray, the anti-Brexit activist widely known as Stop Brexit Man, has defended his decision to blast Beethoven's Ode to Joy during Sir Keir Starmer's resignation speech outside Downing Street. Bray claimed he was doing the Prime Minister a favour by drowning out a man with a megaphone who was shouting abuse at Labour and Starmer.
Bray's justification
In a post on X, Bray wrote: 'In case anyone has the wrong idea – Ode to Joy was played out of respect at background volume. If you were at Downing Street there was a man with 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 megaphone shouting all the way through.'
Bray, a Welsh activist often seen around Westminster with a loudspeaker, argued that Ode to Joy is a pro-European anthem and noted that Starmer had once listed it as one of his favourite pieces of music.
Political backlash
The stunt drew widespread condemnation from both sides of the political spectrum. One Labour MP told The Spectator: 'Steve Bray should be sent to Guantanamo or a mental asylum.' Lord David Wolfson, Shadow Attorney General, posted on X: 'The PM's resignation is a historic event. So why is Steve Bray continually allowed to turn Parliament Square into his own one-man soundtrack? A vibrant public square is one thing. Blaring music over a major constitutional moment is attention-seeking dressed up as activism.'
Lewis Goodall, former Newsnight journalist, called him a 'yob,' writing: 'Steve Bray blasting Ode to Joy, ruining nationally historic moments like this for us and posterity, is a complete disgrace. A yob.' Andrew Neil labelled him a 'buffoon' on Times Radio, saying: 'The fact that we allow this to happen shows, that at times, we are not a serious country.'
Defenders and context
Political analyst Owen Jones offered a nuanced view: 'Steve Bray is a massive d***head. He also has a legal right to be a massive d***head. This country is increasingly authoritarian as it is. Anyone calling for even more crackdowns is a much bigger threat than the aforementioned massive d***head.'
Camilla Tomney noted on X: 'I did speak to Bray about it afterwards and he insisted it was a tribute because Starmer once listed it as his favourite piece of music. I don't remember lefties objecting when he drowned out Brexiteers and righties, mind.'
Previous incidents
This is not the first time Bray has disrupted a Prime Minister's big moment. Previously, he drowned out Rishi Sunak's election announcement by blasting D:Ream's 'Things Can Only Get Better,' a song famously associated with Tony Blair's 1997 victory. Bray said he chose the track because it was a 'top trolling song for the Conservatives.' The music only stopped when his amplifiers got soaked.
