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Free speech superhero or boombox botherer? Henry Riley is joined by Brexit protester Steve Bray, who explains why he was playing Ode to Joy over Starmer's resignation speech. In an interview with our sister station Classic FM, Starmer chose Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 to sum up his Labour party. Mr Bray tells Henry that his actions served as his own 'goodbye to Starmer' and admits that he would apologise to the PM if Sir Keir disliked the tribute. Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #henryriley #ukpolitics #starmer #uknews #LBC LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
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0:00
One of the pieces I've got is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the choral, Ode to Joy at the End
0:08
It's that you've got the orchestra, you've got the voices, you've got this big combination
0:16
This is very sort of Labour. You're getting everybody. Beethoven's getting everybody onto the stage for this
0:22
This is a big, and I talk about a national mission for the next Labour government
0:26
This is a sense of something. It has got a sense of destiny
0:31
Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Ode to Joy, being asked about the sort of piece of music
0:35
that sums up his party. We'll be speaking with our sister station, Classic FM
0:40
Of course, let's take you to today, Sir Keir Starmer speaking outside number 10. I was told time and time again
0:46
that my party was finished, that we were consigned to history, that a majority at the general election
0:55
let alone a landslide majority, was impossible. But we proved those people wrong because we changed our party
1:06
ripping out the poison of anti-Semitism, restoring trust on the economy, defence and national security
1:14
and becoming a party that once again stood proudly with, not against, our national flag
1:23
Newcourse can hear it in the background. Steve Bray joins me on the line now
1:27
He's an anti-Brexit activist. He blasted Beethoven's Ode to Joy during Sir Keir Starmer's resignation speech
1:33
Thank you for joining us, Mr Bray. For some, you're a free speech superhero, and for others, you're a boombox botherer
1:39
Which do you think you are? Well, Marmite, isn't it? But thanks for having me on, Henry
1:47
Yeah, it's like Marmite. Some like me, some hate me. It depends what side the fence you're on, usually
1:52
Well, and there's a big debate to have on it, and we're actually going to be asking listeners a little bit later on where they stand
1:59
Yeah. What sort of reception did you get today when you brought the massive speakers out
2:03
And presumably people had gathered to try and hear the Prime Minister, and they wouldn't have been able to
2:08
Well, the people at the gate wouldn't have been able to hear the Prime Minister anyway
2:12
Now, I'm not in a position to know the volume down in Downing Street as I'm playing it
2:18
because on some days it's better than others. I didn have the amps on full volume But when I arrived at the gate there was a protester there from the um restore party
2:34
and he had a megaphone and of course he was just shouting derogatory things about having
2:40
kiss starmer arrested him being a traitor and that kind of uh thing so i had to weigh it up i
2:49
I was going to play Ode to Joy at the end because it was Keir Starmer's favourite all-time tune
2:56
as I remember him saying on LBC to James O'Brien. Classic FM as well, as you just heard, he makes that point on Classic FM
3:04
I think there's a time and a place though, Mr Bray. I don't think when he waltzed up with his wife, Victoria, he'd necessarily want to hear that ringing through his ears
3:13
The thing is, with the Prime Ministers, they tend to have two resignation speeches
3:18
One where they announce and one when they finally resign. This was his announcement
3:24
It wasn't his final kind of resignation speech. Right. So the boombox is going to be back in the cupboard
3:30
for the last resignation speech, is it? Absolutely it will. But I will be there just in case there are anyone trying to drown him out
3:40
Can I put some... Let me put some views to you. I mean, Lewis Goodall, who's a colleague here at LBC
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very publicly on his social media that you're ruining nationally historic moments like this
3:51
for us and posterity. It's a complete disgrace. He also called you a yob
3:55
Andrew Neil, the seasoned journalist, said you were a buffoon and said the fact we allow this to happen
4:00
shows that at times we're not a serious country. How do you respond to those people? Andrew Neil calling me a buffoon
4:05
I take that as a compliment. If he's riled by me, I'm very happy
4:10
As for Lewis Goodall, he should know better. There was nothing after he said
4:19
He got to a point in his speech, he hadn't even announced he was going to resign
4:24
the music stopped. And it didn't go back on until he finished
4:28
You don't hear the bits afterwards. Yeah, but you did play it for a sizable portion of the speech
4:35
If you listen to the speech, it was the full version of Ode to Joy
4:41
Right. It ended, luckily, just as he was going into the part about his resignation
4:48
Yeah, but as you said yourself, that's luckily. I mean, you're not Calvin Harris. You didn sort of tie it to the second I already turned it down slightly But here the thing I listened to his speech later I could hear every word Yeah
5:03
And for me, this was my kind of goodbye to Keir. Yeah
5:06
I like Keir Starmer. I think he's done some great things as prime minister
5:12
but he could have done more. He could have done better. You know, remember when they came in
5:18
they said that change, and they weren't going to be like the other parties
5:22
and it kind of, their first attack was pensioners. That's not Labour
5:29
So you're, I mean, when Andy Burnham makes, presumably it's going to be Andy Burnham, his first speech
5:34
I mean, are you going to bother him? Well, it depends what he's going to say and what he's going to do
5:42
Well, he's not going to reverse Brexit, is he? So he's not going to please you
5:47
How do you know he's not going to reverse Brexit? it. Well, if I was a betting man, I'd suggest he wouldn't, but maybe you're right. Would you like
5:53
to put a bet on it? I would. Maybe when I next see you in Westminster, we'll do it privately
5:58
not in the airwaves. But last few things, Steve. I don't know if you've seen comments from Sir
6:03
Oliver Dowden, the former deputy prime minister, who said in the House of Commons today that we
6:08
need to find a way of stopping this ridiculous heckling and disruption of prime ministers on
6:13
Downing Street when they're trying to make statements. It adds to our international embarrassment
6:17
I know you laugh, but... It is part of our history. This is what we do in Britain
6:23
This is very British. Is it? I mean, but we also show a bit of decorum and respect
6:28
don't we, Steve, when a man who's visibly emotional... We do, we do. Look, this tune for Keir Starmer
6:37
it's the only one I've played for a prime minister I like. It was a kind of goodbye
6:42
His favourite tune, and it stopped to allow him to speak to announce his resignation
6:48
So in your view, is it protest, is it freedom of speech, or is it both
6:54
It's both. Yeah. Protests, look, if you remember, I went to court
7:00
and the amps were taken off me down by Parliament. A judge actually said, this is very British
7:07
This is what protest is. So, you know, at the end of the day, if you can't protest, and don't forget, what is it in a couple of hours' time
7:21
Yeah well quite It the Brexit 10 anniversary 10th anniversary of the referendum Yeah And here the thing There is so much from that time I want to talk about
7:33
and yet people just say, let's go on, forget it. Okay, you know, I'm not
7:37
forgetting things like Russian interference. I'm not going over the old hat
7:41
but I'm just saying, there was more than one person that took Russian money. Nathan Gill got 10 years, 6 months
7:47
but he's the only one that got caught. Yeah, I mean, let's not name any names
7:51
I'm not using anyone. Okay. Not naming anyone. You're making the point about Brexit, which is fair
7:56
and as you say, there's an important anniversary. At what point, and I hesitate to ask this to someone who
8:02
and I walk past you quite often in Westminster, and you're very friendly, I have to put that out there
8:07
for people who don't come to the capital, but when are you going to stop
8:11
Are you going to stop? Well, I'll be 57 this week, so I'm getting older
8:19
Yeah, and I did think about stopping. Then all this happened. I was going to, in the beginning of September
8:29
it was going to be the end of our protest at Sodom. Really? It was going to be it
8:33
Yeah. But things have, there's a span I've been thrown in the works at the moment
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so I need to play it by ear. Okay. And there is a group of us
8:43
It's not just me. No, there is. There is a group of you. I'll put it this way. When it comes to the 20th anniversary of Brexit
8:48
Do you think you'll still be there with the boomboxes? No, because we'll be back in the European Union
8:54
even if it's in all but name. All we need now, look, we're back in the space programme
9:01
Erasmus is coming back. All we need now is the customs union, single market
9:06
freedom of movement. It works both ways. We all lost that. And I can't, I still to this day can't grasp
9:14
how people could just throw away their rights like that. Steve, it's really good to talk to you
9:20
Lastly, before I let you go, if Keir Starmer is listening to this
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which I imagine he's not, he's probably won the football, and he was offended
9:29
would you say sorry to him if he said, look, Steve, that I didn't like that? Absolutely
9:35
If Keir said to me I didn't like that, I would apologise. But here's the but
9:40
I forgot to tell you, every Wednesday you know we're at Parliament for PMQs
9:46
He passes us every time and guess what's playing every time he passes us
9:52
His favourite tune, Ode to Joy
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