A pro-EU activist famed as the ‘Stop Brexit Man’ who blasts loud music and abused MPs outside Parliament was silenced today as new protest laws came into force.
Failed Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Steve Bray accused police of harassment today as he was prevented from setting up his powerful music system in Westminster.
Under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, which came into force today, he was told by the Metropolitan Police this morning he could not conduct a ‘noisy protest’ within a designated area outside the palace of Westminster.
He had been playing loud music and rambling abuse at politicians for years, either side of a failed bid to win a seat for the Lib Dems in his native Wales at the 2019 election.
The 52 year old did not take the news badly, telling polite police officers they were ‘a bunch of fascists’ as they explained the new rules to him.
He added that he was ‘not a happy chap, getting harassed a lot’, before seeing a police officer filming the scene and shouting ‘up yours Priti Patel’ at the camera.
He later filmed himself approaching a car carrying Health Secretary Sajid Javid, tweeting: ‘I’m not relenting or stopping. Nothing has changed.’
Failed Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Steve Bray accused police of harassment today as he was prevented from setting up his powerful music system in Westminster.
The 52 year old did not take the news badly, telling polite police officers they were ‘a bunch of fascists’ as they explained the new rules to him.
He added that he was ‘not a happy chap, getting harassed a lot’, before seeing a police officer filming the scene and shouting ‘up yours Priti Patel’ at the camera (file picture).
Mr Bray started his one-man demonstration shouting about Brexit but has since focused on targeting Boris Johnson and Conservatives.
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His set list of songs from artists including the Bay City Rollers, the Sex Pistols, the Fun Boy Three and Sam Cook, on a heavy rotation.
He plays regularly outside the palace on Wednesdays when he knows Mr Johnson will attend for Prime Minister’s Questions, but also turns up on other days.
People working in the side of the Parliamentary estate facing his protest have made noise complains but local authorities were hitherto unable to take action against a legitimate political protest.
Today an offence of intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance is now available in an effort to crack down on disruptive ‘guerrilla protests’.
These are the sort of tactics which have been used by climate change protesters who have taken their campaigns to the streets.
Mr Bray also is known for standing in shot of live-television broadcasts outside the Houses of Parliament while brandishing his anti-Brexit placards.
He has been accused of abusing politicians – which he denies – and has also been on the receiving end of abuse.
In May a Tory MP threatening to sue him , alleging that he wrongly suggested he was the politician caught watching porn in the Commons.
In a now-deleted tweet, Mr Bray appeared to hint at the unnamed MP’s identity. As the story broke, Mr Bray posted a picture of a well-known Tory and a link to a previous story about him, adding: ‘Has a lot of relevance now, maybe not the story but the person!!! … I’m just going to check my mobile phone for some interesting websites.’
But it became clear 48 hours later it was another politician when Tiverton and Honiton MP Neil Parish admitted he had used his phone to look at porn in the Commons chamber.
Also in may, the anti-Brexit campaigner posted a video of himself interrupting a dinner at the Welsh Tory conference on Friday before being bundled out of the room.
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