A heckler interrupted the chancellor’s speech at the Labour Party conference on Monday and complained about the government’s policy on Israel.
Rachel Reeves was expected to begin her address by discussing the state of the UK’s economy and promising there would not be a return to austerity, despite the government’s recent gloomy messaging.
However, shortly after she began, a man started shouting at her from across the conference centre.
He said: “We are still selling arms to Israel. I thought we voted for change Rachel.”
While the rest of his rant could not be heard over the heckles from the crowd, he appeared to shout about the climate and about the economy’s impact on working people.
Once security had tackled the protester to the ground and removed him from the room, Reeves won a standing ovation by replying from the stage: “This is a changed Labour Party that represents working people and not a party of protest.”
Campaign group Climate Resistance later took responsibility for the protest, claiming activists had “infiltrated the audience and unfurled a banner” which ready: “Still backing polluters, still arming Israel – we voted for change.”
The Labour government recently suspended around 30 arms exports licenses to Israel out of 350 amid its ongoing war in Gaza.
Labour has also been criticised for not revoking the oil and gas licences which the Tory government handed out.
Sam Simons, spokesperson for the campaign group, said: “It’s time for Labour to start putting the needs of people before the interests of profit.
“That means immediately stopping arms licences to Israel, blocking new oil and gas, and standing up for the communities already being devastated by the climate crisis.”