KEIR Starmer has been criticised for his reaction to a pro-Palestine who interrupted his speech during the Labour conference.
The Prime Minister was talking about how every child’s contribution should be heard when a person in the crowd began shouting: “What about the children of Gaza?”
The person then added: “Those opportunities don't go to every child, do they?”
They were then led out of the hall by security as Starmer said: “This guy obviously has a pass from the 2019 conference.”
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Starmer then began laughing as the conference hall erupted into applause at his comment.
He then added: “We changed the party.
“While he’s been protesting, we’ve been changing the party, that’s why we got a Labour government.”
The Labour leader's reaction to the protester has been criticised online by figures from other political parties in Scotland.
Ross Greer, Green MSP for the West of Scotland, shared his disgust at Starmer's comments online.
He said: “Tens of thousands of murdered Palestinian kids and Starmer is cracking jokes rather than sanctioning the Israeli leaders responsible.”
While the convener of the SNP’s Peterhead branch, David Birkett, compared Starmer's approach to the former first minister Humza Yousaf when he was heckled.
He said: “It's worth comparing and contrasting this with how Humza Yousaf dealt with a heckler during his tenure as the SNP leader.
“He stopped his speech, he left the stage and spoke to the heckler.
“No chokeholds, no handcuffs, just compassion.”
Last year Yousaf left his SNP Independence Convention speech mid-way through to speak directly to a heckler in the crowd.
He told the crowd not to boo the heckler as he sat and spoke with them for around five minutes to hear about her issues regarding an inquiry into the NHS health board.
Upon returning to the stage, he received a standing ovation from the audience and stressed the importance of listening over shouting down.
Starmer went on to finish his speech but he wasn’t the only senior Labour figure to be interrupted at the party conference.
Similarly, Rachel Reeves was cut off mid-way through her conference address as a protester shouted to her about the UK’s involvement in the sale of arms to Israel before he was removed from the hall.
After the protester was removed, Reeves also stated the Labour Party was no longer a party of protest.
She said: “This is a changed Labour Party, a Labour Party that represents working people, not a party of protest.”
Her comments have been met with similar criticism.
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