An anti-Brexit activist who had his speakers seized by police outside parliament on Tuesday has returned to the scene carrying a large amplifier.
Steve Bray, known as “Stop Brexit Man”, had his hi-fi speakers confiscated by officers under a controversial new law which seeks to curb “noisy” protests.
On Wednesday morning, Mr Bray began to blare music from an amplifier from a new spot near the Treasury after officers warned him to stay away from his previous protest site outside the Commons. He was heard playing the 1975 Bay City Rollers song Bye Bye Baby overlaid with the lyrics “bye bye Boris”.
Mr Blay claimed that officers had threatened to take his equipment again, arguing his new spot was still in a designated area where noisy demonstrations are not permitted.
“This is ridiculous, this is fascism,” Mr Bray shouted as police talked to him.
Mr Bray, wearing a top hat, told the PA news agency that he is considering riding around parliament square in a rickshaw to prevent the speaker being seized again.
“I’ve got more amps on order and I’m going to link four amps together, not this week, maybe next week, and it’ll be twice as loud as it was here to compensate for the move to the corner,” he said.
“In fact, I’m going to wire eight together.”
Mr Bray became famous for playing protests songs on a loudspeaker in Parliament Square during the UK’s tense four-year departure from the European Union. More recently, he has demonstrated against the leadership of Boris Johnson over the partygate scandal and other Government policy.
Footage of officers removing his speakers on Tuesday sparked controversy, with MPs expressing concern over whether the new “noisy” protest laws violated freedom of speech.
The laws, which came into effect on Tuesday, give police new powers to “impose conditions on one-person protests” if senior officers “reasonably believe” the noise it creates “may result in serious disruption to the activities of an organisation in the vicinity, or have a significant, relevant impact on people in the vicinity.”
A new offence of “recklessly causing public nuisance” also came into effect – but officers imposing restrictions on protests must set out their reasoning in writing.
If conditions have been met, a demonstrator can be arrested if they “fail to comply with any conditions they knew or ought to have known had been imposed”. Breaches of the law carry a six month jail sentence or an unlimited fine.
