Keir Starmer 'glittered' by protester

' It was only glitter' is like saying 'it was only a little punch which didn't hurt'. Would it be ok to do this to a shop assistant doing their job? It is never acceptable to attack someone doing their job.

Nice cop out.

Gets real akward when you have to say exactly what level of violence you woud accept.

Fucking awful security breach! 😡

’It was only glitter’ is a fuckwit reaction; he had his hands behind Starmer, it could have been acid or a Salman Rushdi scenario.

Anyone who thinks it funny is a cunt. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, even a Tory.

Starmer reacted well, in contrast to the security team.

Whatever you think of the individual concerned, the sentiment behind your post is horrible. Is this how you want our leaders to be treated because soon no one will stand?

Have a lovely day @AnSolas , your discussion style is coming across as hyperbolic, I can't see what we'd gain from continuing.

I've stuck to moderate tones and I've nothing more to add.

Do you actualy think that Mr Look-at-ME is too stupid to be let out alone?

He attacked someone in public.
He attacked someone in public on the basis of his political belief.
You were hand waving that it was peaceful protest and not an attack because he did not cause visable harm.

Here is a question

Would you be happy to get up on a stage and risk having a stranger with ill intent decide that your steping on to the stage at a public event makes you a legitimate target for any level of violence that stranger deems reasonable?

They protester was arrested fir "assault" wasn't he?

Not sure about hand waving, that's just a generic insult.

I said it was assault.

Neither you nor I know whether the intent was to instil fear or cause disruption. I perceive the latter, you perceive the former.

Presumably he'll be charged with something, if not already.

I think if someone came up behind me, threw something over me, then grabbed me and shouted I might consider it a violent act.

The shock and the "oh god what's happening" thoughts happen before the "ok it's only glitter and he's grabbing me to get closer to the microphone, and he's shouting about democracy being broken and there's no point in voting, not AT me" process.

I wouldn't handle it anywhere near as well as Keir Starmer did.

I really felt it gave a sense that whatever is thrown at him (literally!) he'll roll up his sleeves and get on with the job.

Tories have been trying to portray Labour as politically linked to these protesters. If XR are protesting against Labour, then they're not supporters.

Why would the Tories be pissed off? It’s a gift to them, because Extinction Rebellion are of the left. So it feeds the narrative that ‘left-wing extremism will undermine centrist Starmer, so a vote for Labour is too dangerous’.

It is clear you dont understand

You are hand waving dismissing the fact that the intent in any of these political attacks is to cause fear.

You are attempting to wave away the violences by the level of damage inflicted on the intended victim.

You fail to understand that it was an assault.
The moment Mr Look-at-ME threw something it was an assault.

It took a very long time for the security ladies to come to his rescue, anything could have happened in that time.

It was incredibly fucking stupid. Having read a bit more about the situation it becomes clear that this was essentially a tantrum from XR activists in the Labour Party because they have been sidelined- like all the smaller really left wing groups- as they party tries to look more serious and adult to voters.

As I said before, I think XR do more harm than good in the fight against climate change. They make people see it as a crackpot notion rather than a serious political talking point. They are tiresome attention seekers (for themselves, not their cause).

Labour are now using it as a marketing tool You can buy glittery labour t shirts. Great idea

I don't understand this Peaceful domestic violence is where the the blows are not full force so bruises dont show right? - if there are blows, I'd consider that violence.

As I said, it was probably assault because he put his hands on Starmer.

Me too.

That's the first thing I thought of, where was the security, stopping random idiots from getting so close to him in the first place? They took their time getting to him to get him off the stage too.

Peaceful domestic violence is where the the blows are not full force so bruises dont show right?

Peaceful domestic violence is where the curled fist and the threat works right?

Peaceful would be the bloke who hecked at the tory gig or wearing a T-shirt and standing below the stage. But that was not special enough for Mr Look-at-ME. He has to go with violence and engage in direct physical intimidation.

It was an assault and a battery.

Assault is the fear of harm which was the objective of the person attacking him.

It was violence.

People minimising one person's decision to attack another for political gain encourages the ideology that physical attacks are a valid form of democratic process.

It was a violent incident.

I'm not minimising the worry. Security failure for sure.

But my view remains it was not a violent act. The law might disagree with me!

The Tories will be pissed off if it was an XR person!

Yes absolutely, he reacted incredibly calmly.

We could see much more clearly what was happening.

The way Starmer dealt with it - composed, unflustered - tells us this is exactly who we need in no 10.

It's pretty poor that someone was able to storm the podium and get that close to him like that. Where was security?

If that happened to a US presidential candidate the guy would have been shot probably.

@CaptainMyCaptain cross posted! And your username has made me feel a bit emotional - love that scene ❤️