'Stop Brexit Man' cleared over Westminster noise ban

An activist known as Stop Brexit Man” has been cleared of flouting a police ban after playing anti-Conservative and antiBrexit edits of The Muppet Show and Darth Vader’s theme music outside parliament.

- BRYONY GOOCH

Steve Bray, 56, was playing music on 20 March last year before the then prime minister Rishi Sunak arrived for Prime Minister's Questions.

Police had approached Mr Bray when he was stood on a traffic island at around 11.20am, and handed him a map to warn him he wasn’t allowed to use his speakers in the controlled area under a by-law, the court heard.

He resumed playing the music intermittently and, over an hour later, officers seized the speakers.

The activist is known for playing music in protest around Westminster. He famously played D:Ream’s “Things Can Only Get Better” at the gates of Downing Street when Mr Sunak announced a general election in the pouring rain last May.

Mr Bray was found not guilty of failing without reasonable excuse to comply with a direction given under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 “re prohibited activities in Parliament Square” at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.