Protester who poured glitter over Keir Starmer says he is sorry for actions

A man who threw glitter over the Labour leader Keir Starmer at the start of his party conference speech this week in Liverpool has said he is sorry for his actions.

Yaz Ashmawi told Fubar Radio he regretted having touched Starmer at the beginning of his speech on Tuesday as part of a protest calling for changes to the UK’s voting system.

Starmer jokingly brushed off the incident, which saw Ashmawi storm the stage and tip green glitter over the Labour leader before being dragged off by security, telling conference delegates it demonstrated why he wanted “power, not protest”.

However, Labour’s shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said she thought questions would be asked about how Ashmawi was able to evade security and get on to the stage.

Ashmawi told Fubar’s Politics Uncensored podcast: “The thought that, even for a moment, he felt that he was in danger is horrible to think about.

“I think it is absolutely fine to pour glitter on someone and to go on to the stage. I just think it is physical contact that crossed the line there.”

Asked whether he would like to apologise to the Labour leader, he said: “Yes, absolutely. I’m sorry for doing that.”

Separately, Ashmawi told the BBC he was sorry “for putting my hand on him and touching him when he wasn’t expecting it”.

He added: “Politicians get a lot of death threats and they have a need to feel safe and I compromised that in that moment by touching him.”

Just as the Labour leader was about to begin his speech, Ashmawi ran on to the stage and tipped glitter over Starmer before shouting: “We demand a people’s house!” The impact of the protest was hampered, however, by Starmer using his right arm to keep him away from speaking directly into the microphone.

Ashmawi told Fubar that after being dragged out of the conference hall he was arrested and kept in a cell for 22 hours. Police said they had arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of assault, breaching the peace and causing a public nuisance, which Ashwami confirmed was him. He has since been put in bail.

Starmer said afterwards that Ashmawi had been an “idiot” for disrupting his speech, although he added: “It could have been a lot worse.”

Labour, however, has sought to maximise the publicity from the incident, selling T-shirts for £20 with the slogan: “Sparkle with Starmer.”