'Complete lack of respect!' Politicians on all sides condemn Stop Brexit Man Steve Bray as he drowns out Keir Starmer's resignation speech by blasting the EU anthem over speaker

By MARTIN BECKFORD, POLICY EDITOR Published: 22:32, 22 June 2026 | Updated: 22:50, 22 June 2026 Westminster was briefly united - in fury at the notorious anti-Brexit activist who drowned out Sir Keir Starmer's resignation speech. Politicians on all sides condemned Steve Bray for blasting out the EU anthem Ode To Joy on a speaker outside the gates to Downing Street as the Prime Minister spoke. There were calls for tougher police action or legal reforms to end his antics, which in recent years have also disrupted major announcements by previous premiers as well as making life a misery for thousands of people working in Parliament and Whitehall every week. Although Mr Bray, 56, was taken to court last year for ignoring a ban on using loudspeakers in the area, he was cleared by a judge who said his 'fundamental right' to protest outweighed the 'inconvenience and irritation' to those trying to work nearby. Reform UK's home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said: 'Steve Bray has done the impossible. He's united the country. In despising him.' He added: 'The reason he gets away with his shameful behaviour is the ECHR. Let's seize this moment to unify our nation behind finally serving notice and leaving this abominable treaty.' Senior Tory MP Simon Hoare branded Mr Bray 'an embarrassing disgrace of an egotist'. Steve Bray, known as Stop Brexit Man, during a previous protest when Boris Johnson quit And Labour's Jacob Collier said: 'Complete lack of respect as the Prime Minister gave a dignified address to the nation.' But Mr Bray himself insisted: 'Ode to Joy was played out of respect background volume!' He claimed he had chosen it because Sir Keir had previously said it was his favourite piece of music. When Rishi Sunak called the 2024 general election, Mr Bray played New Labour anthem Things Can Only Get Better. And when Boris Johnson quit he played the Benny Hill theme tune. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.