In a shocking event, a protester managed to evade security and disrupted a public speech by UK opposition leader Keir Starmer on Tuesday by throwing glitter at him.
Starmer, a leader of the opposition Labour Party in the UK, was showered with glitter as the protester shouted "True democracy is citizen-led" at the Labour Conference in Liverpool. The protester was later carried off stage and Starmer continued his speech after removing his suit jacket.
Starmer is eyeing the post of British Prime Minister, currently occupied by British-Indian Rishi Sunak. He promised to launch "a decade of national renewal" on Tuesday if he is elected to power and criticised the Conservative Party over economic stagnation and political turmoil in the UK.
"It's been 13 years now and what does Britain have to show for it. What is broken can be repaired, what is ruined can be rebuilt," he said in his speech.
The Labour Party has lost four successive elections in the UK. Starmer, who was elected leader in 2020, reportedly steered the social democratic party back toward the political middle ground after the divisive tenure of predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, who advocated nationalisation of key industries and infrastructure.
He said that he leads "a changed Labour Party, no longer in thrall to gesture politics, no longer a party of protest… Those days are done. We will never go back."
Politics in the UK
Labour has lost four straight national elections. Its landslide 1997 election victory under Tony Blair, which was the peak of its popularity, was a quarter-century ago and in the last election, in 2019, voters handed Labour its worst drubbing since 1935.
However, Britain is suffering from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, withdrawal from the European Union (EU) and the Russia-Ukraine war that pushed British inflation as high as 11% last year. People are struggling with the rising cost of living, public sector strikes and political turmoil that resulted in the removal of ex-PM Boris Johnson.
Things might change at the end of next year as the UK goes for elections, with polls indicating Labour ahead of the Conservative Party by at least 20 points.
Meanwhile, Labour leaders condemned Saturday's Hamas attack on Israel, and led delegates in a minute of silence for the victims on Monday. Starmer himself condemned the attack by “the terrorists of Hamas" and said Israel “has the right to defend her people".
Notably, Starmer played a vital role in repairing relations with Britain's Jewish community and vowed to eliminate anti-semitism that's alleged to have tainted the party under Corbyn, a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause.
Companies thronged to the conference in The Beatles' birthplace of Liverpool, buying space in the exhibition hall, sponsoring panel discussions and attending a business forum with party leaders, signalling an improvement in voters' opinion towards Labour.
The next election will be fought against a challenging economic backdrop of high-interest rates and low growth.
(with AP inputs)
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