Watch: Keir Starmer speech disrupted by protesters over green policy U-turn

Labour leader Keir Starmer’s final mission speech has been disrupted by protestors, with two activists stood behind the Labour leader attacking him mid speech over the party’s policy U-turns.

He was giving a speech in Gillingham, Kent, on “opportunity“, the fifth of Labour’s five promised missions that will underpin a Labour government.

But mid-way through the speech, two individuals stood behind him interrupted him, unfurled a banner and told Starmer: “We need a green new deal right now. You keep making U-turns.”

Starmer looked taken aback on stage and had to pause while they were removed. But then he added: “I think they may have missed the fact that the last mission I launched was on clean power by 2030.”

Labour had recently confirmed a planned £28billion-a-year commitment to green spending would only be rolled out gradually, in a move criticised by many on the left but justified by Labour on the basis of its fiscal rules and the challenges of spending so much immediately.

The protest incident is likely to be seized on by Starmer’s opponents in future, with the Conservatives already regularly attacking Starmer over a series of abandoned pledges and even selling their own Keir Starmer ‘flip-flops’.

In February, Keir Starmer revealed a series of missions which would form the “backbone” of a future Labour government. The missions focus on growth, crime and public safety, health, the green transition, and today’s focus, opportunity.

His chosen venue for his final mission speech in Gillingham sits within the Medway council area, where Labour won control of the council in May. The area currently has three Conservative MPs, but all the seats are considered competitive for Labour.