Protestor Steve Bray interrupts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls on GMB

2022-07-06

Karaoke anyone? Moment Pro-EU protestor Steve Bray interrupts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls on Good Morning Britain singing ‘Bye Bye Boris’ as Bay City Rollers classic is blasted outside Houses of Parliament

Anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray, 53, was taunting prime minister Boris Johnson
Comes as at least 15 members of government have resigned in the past 24 hours
Reid and Balls eventually began dancing along to his rendition of Bye Bye Baby

Good Morning Britain faced an awkward interruption during a live broadcast this morning when notorious anti-Brexit activist Steve Bray began belting out a modified rendition of Bye Bye Baby outside the Houses of Parliament.

GMB presenters Susanna Reid, 51, and Ed Balls, 55, were hosting the ITV breakfast news show live from Westminster when Bray, 53, began singing ‘Bye Bye Boris’ to the tune of the Bay City Rollers’ hit.

The ‘Stop Brexit Man’ was taunting embattled Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is clinging onto his premiership following a slew of resignations, kickstarted by the shock departures of Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid last night.

At least 15 members of government – including four ministers – have resigned in the past 24 hours following claims that the PM hired Chris Pincher as deputy chief whip despite allegedly having knowledge of allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

It came after Pincher was forced to resign on June 30 when two men accused him of groping them while drinking at the Carlton Club in central London the night before.

Reid and Balls noticed Bray’s ‘karaoke’ while reporting on the lawn outside Parliament this morning.

Reid appeared distracted as the pro-EU protestor started singing, and asked: ‘Oh what’s… Sorry, where’s that come from?’

GMB presenters Susanna Reid, 51, and Ed Balls, 55, were hosting the ITV breakfast news show live from Westminster when Steve Bray, 53, began singing ‘Bye Bye Boris’ to the tune of the Bay City Rollers’ hit.

Bray’s signature top hat is seen peeking above a gate during GMB’s broadcast this morning

Balls replied: ‘I don’t know,’ while Reid continued: ‘Are we about to do karaoke?’, before realising it was Bray.

Bray, from Port Talbot in South Wales, has made frequent protests against Brexit on College Green and is known to shout during TV news broadcasts.

He is also known for walking into the background of live reports, often wearing an eye-catching outfit and carrying placards with anti-Brexit or anti-Government messages.

As Bray’s performance picked up, Reid and Balls began dancing along to his rendition of Bye Bye Baby.

Reid quickly recognised the performer, saying: ‘Oh, it’s Steve Bray! It’s the latest Steve Bray protest, isn’t it?’

Despite the interruption, both presenters seemed to be entertained by the inventive performance.

‘Oh, come on, Steve,’ said Balls.

Reid added: ‘Well, I suppose if you’re no longer allowed to shout, there are other ways of making your voice heard.’

It comes after Bray, a failed Lib Dem parliamentary candidate, was silenced by the police last week when they confiscated his powerful music system in Westminster.

Chris Pincher (pictured) last week resigned as deputy chief whip after he admitted ’embarrassing himself and others’ after drinking ‘far too much’ at the Carlton Club, a posh London watering hole popular with Conservatives, where he was accused of groping two men

Failed Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Steve Bray accused police of harassment as he was prevented from setting up his powerful music system in Westminster on June 28

From Port Talbot to Parliament: EU fanatic’s one-man protest

Steve Bray has been making noise outside Parliament since September 2017.

The coin collector from Port Talbot initially become part of the landscape on Westminster’s College Green, with his colourful ensemble of a EU-inspired top hat and a Union Flag cape regularly seen lurking in front of TV cameras.

When the grandfather first shot on to the Westminster scene to interrupt news reports by floating behind interviewees with his anti-Brexit signs, the broadcasters forked out for raised towers to keep him out of shot.

But he continued to heckle politicians and blast music at Parliament, despite vowing to stop in 2019.

But his attempt to enter politics proper failed. Standing for the Lib Dems at the 2019 election in Cynon Valley in Wales, he came sixth with fewer than 1,000 votes and lost his deposit.

While the daily protest may seem a thankless task for the numismatist, who uprooted from his Welsh home, Mr Bray has raised thousands of pounds in donations from Remain activists to sustain his comfortable lifestyle.

It was revealed in 2019 that he had moved into a plum Westminster townhouse opposite Jacob Rees-Mogg, after receiving a handsome lump sum from Remainer plumbing mogul Charlie Mullins.

One of his most memorable spats was with Theresa May’s former deputy Damian Green who Mr Bray had asked how he felt about the crunch withdrawal deal vote.

Mr Green refused to answer and said: ‘No you can’t, because you’ve just tried to shout over an interview I’ve done like you do everyone else.

‘In a competitive field, you are the biggest w***ker.’

Under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, which came into force June 28, he was told by the Metropolitan Police that morning that he could not conduct a ‘noisy protest’ within a designated area outside the palace of Westminster.

He branded officers ‘a bunch of fascists’ as they explained the new rules to him and took away his equipment.

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 the then Health Secretary Sajid Javid, tweeting: ‘I’m not relenting or stopping. Nothing has changed.’

But minutes later he tweeted a video showing police moving in and removing his sound system, leaving him to shout unaided.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘The man was using the equipment in a zone where the use of amplified equipment is prohibited.

‘He was spoken to by officers on multiple occasions in relation to specific legislation regarding the use of the amplifying equipment and that it would be seized if he persisted.’

The statement added: ‘He was also reported for the offence. (This means that he will be considered for prosecution for the offence).’

The laws came as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, which included measures to curtail noisy protests.

Officers said the equipment was being seized under section 145 of The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, which was extended to a wider area around the Houses of Parliament.

Mr Bray started his one-man demonstration shouting about Brexit but has since focused on targeting Boris Johnson and Conservatives.

His set list of songs consists of artists like 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 complaints but local authorities were until recently unable to take action against a legitimate political protest.

Under new laws, 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.

But rights campaigners fear the laws will erode at people’s right to protest.

Oliver Feeley-Sprague, Amnesty International UK’s policing expert, previously said: ‘The measures taken against Steve Bray are likely to be the tip of the iceberg.

‘Unfortunately, we fear there is now going to be a cascade of cases where people are being prevented from legitimate protest on grounds that are both petty and punitive.

‘The deeply authoritarian new policing laws are a charter for the suppression of legitimate protest – a dark day for liberty in our country and something we need to see repealed as soon as possible.’

And Grahame Morris, Labour MP for Easington, condemned the action to ‘silence’ Mr Bray.

He told the House of Commons: ‘I know many of us have had brushes with Mr Bray but his voice is being silenced today – by tomorrow there could be many others who have never demonstrated previously who are subject to prosecution under this law.’

What are the claims facing Chris Pincher?

Chris Pincher resigned as Tory deputy chief whip after he last week admitted he ‘drank far too much’ and ’embarrassed myself and other people’.

It followed claims he had drunkenly groped two men at the Carlton Club, the Conservative Party members’ club in London on Wednesday night.

The Tamworth MP has vowed to ‘cooperate fully’ with an official investigation by a parliamentary watchdog.

But a slew of other allegations have also now emerged about Mr Pincher, which he denies, including:

– In an incident around 2012, a man in his early 20s said he received unwanted sexual attention from Mr Pincher at an event in London

– A former parliamentary researcher has told how Mr Pincher threatened to report her to her boss when she tried to block his pestering of a young man at Conservative Party conference in 2013

– Another alleged incident in 2013 involving a young man who had passed out in Mr Pincher’s London flat. It is claimed he woke up with the politician on top of him

– A 2017 incident in which Mr Pincher is claimed to have put his hand on another MP’s inner thigh.

– A charity fundraiser claimed that Mr Pincher groped his thigh and bottom as they posed for a photo in 2018

– A young Tory activist has alleged the MP massaged his shoulders and attempted to undo his shirt at a private property in 2019

– A claim that Mr Pincher made a unwanted advance to a young Tory member at the party’s conference in 2019, while describing how he could help his political career

– An alleged unwanted advance made by the MP toward a young Tory activist at the party’s 2021 conference

– A young Tory activist has claimed he was ‘touched up’ by Mr Pincher in a car in 2021

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