Interruptions to speeches at Labour Conference were inevitable. They were inevitable even before the party was accused of censoring mentions of genocide and apartheid in the fringe brochure, reminiscent of the DNC’s refusal to allow a Palestinian speaker onstage in Chicago a month before. So it was probably no surprise for Rachel Reeves when a protester stood up and unfurled a banner while another shouted, “We are still selling arms to Israel. I thought we were voting for change.” And it would’ve been even less surprising for Keir Starmer the following day, when his declaration that the contributions of all children should be valued was met with: “What about the children of Gaza?”
The Starmer heckler, 18-year-old Daniel Riley, was removed from the conference floor with his hands behind his back. One of the men who interrupted Reeves was removed with a hand around his throat, before being arrested and kept in a police van for an hour. So much so familiar. In a near year of bombardment, individuals around the country — around the world — trying to force Gaza onto the political agenda have been subject to jeers at best and harassment, intimidation, and serious violence at worst. What’s more interesting is that both Starmer and Reeves chose the moments in which their hecklers were being manhandled away to make comments not about Palestine but about the nature of the party, Reeves declaring Labour “changed” and Starmer leaning against the podium to joke that “this guy’s obviously got a pass from the 2019 conference.” ….more
