A speech by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has been interrupted by green protesters.
Sir Keir was midway through announcing his party’s pledges to overhaul education if they get into power, when a man and a woman – already on the stage – unfurled a banner, saying: “No more U-turns – green new deal now.”
One young activist was heard heckling the Labour leader for watering down his previous commitment to spend £28bn on its green prosperity plan – a u-turn that shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves blamed on rising interest rates and the “damage” the Conservatives have done to the economy.
Another asked Sir Keir: “Which side are the Labour Party on?”, to which he replied: “We are on the side of economic growth.”
After further demands for “a green new deal right now” and for the leader to “stop making u-turns”, the demonstrators were led away from the stage.
Before continuing his planned speech, Sir Keir told the audience: “I think they may have missed the fact that the last mission I launched was on clean power by 2030, which is the single most effective way to get the green future that they and many others want.”
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Labour has put forward five “missions” for government – including securing the highest sustained growth in the G7, making Britain a green energy superpower, building an NHS fit for the future and making Britain’s streets safe.
But today’s focus was on education, with a plan to “break down the barriers to opportunity at every stage”.
