‘Stop Brexit Man’ Steve Bray has vowed to continue his campaign to rejoin the European Union despite Sir Keir Starmer’s landslide victory yesterday – although he said he will tone down the noise.
Mr Bray, who has been an almost constant presence outside Downing Street since Britain voted to leave the European Union, famously blasted Rishi Sunak with New Labour’s 1997 anthem ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ as the then PM announced the election amid a torrential downpour.
Speaking across from Downing Street, Mr Bray told MailOnline that Brexit has been ‘the elephant in the room’ which needs to be addressed.
He said the next stage of his campaign would be quieter because he believes the new government will be more receptive to his arguments.
When Boris Johnson departed Downing Street for the last time, Mr Bray played the theme from the Benny Hill show as Mr Johnson delivered his speech.
‘Stop Brexit Man’ Steve Bray said he will continue his campaign to rejoin the European Union despite Sir Keir Starmer’s arrival at Number 10 Downing Street
Mr Bray told MailOnline that his future protests will be toned down
He told MailOnline: ‘We are going to change tack a bit. We want politicians to talk about Brexit because for the past four or five years it has been the elephant in the room, the damage has now been done and people can see it for what it really is.
Mr Bray is widely known for his blue top hat and yellow ribbon announcing ‘Stop Brexit’.
He has regularly faced difficulties with police in Whitehall over his loud protests – often using an amplifier and large speakers to disrupt press briefings outside Number 10.
He told MailOnline: ‘We are going to change tack a bit. We want politicians to talk about Brexit because for the past four or five years it has been the elephant in the room, the damage has now been done and people can see it for what it really is.
‘I don’t want to say to people “we told you so”, but we’re not going to say that, now what we are going to say is “now the country needs to unite”.
‘We need to do what is best for the country and all of us.
‘We now have the highest tax take in over 70 years. Our economy has nosedived and the value of the pound has slipped quite a bit since we left the European Union.
‘Look at the queues at the airports and the ferry ports. This isn’t what people voted for.
‘This isn’t what people were told they were going to get.
‘We really need to talk about Brexit in an adult way and I’m going to go “softly-softly”… it’s just going to be a reminder to get the elephant out of the room.’
He said his highlights on election night were the shock defeats of Jacob Rees Mogg and Liz Truss, who both lost their seats in a night of carnage for the Conservative Party.
In recent months Mr Bray has been involved in a ‘cat and mouse’ battle with police how have tried to seize his equipment, including amplifiers.
The Home Office and the Metropolitan Police tried a range of methods to prevent Mr Bray from playing music – often at a level of 90 decibels – for up to eight hours at a time.
During Boris Johnson’s final address to the nation outside Number 10, Mr Bray played the theme from Benny Hill.
Police have seized his equipment several times following a change to the law in June 2022.
Under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, noisy protests are banned within designated area outside the Palace of Westminster.
Advertisement
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings