Police ban amplifiers outside No 10 to stop protesters ahead of Burnham being confirmed as PM

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The ban is in place for Monday July 20 between 10.30am and 1.30pm on a section of Whitehall opposite the entrance to Downing Street.

The police force wrote in the announcement on X: "Anyone assembling near the Downing Street gates to observe events linked to the new Prime Minister must not use any amplified noise equipment and must stay within the shaded area."

It comes after criticism was levelled at Steve Bray, an anti-Brexit campaigner, who loudly played Ode To Joy, which is the EU’s official anthem, during Sir Keir’s resignation outside Downing Street.

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The Prime Minister could be seen struggling to make himself heard as he started to speak.

In a post on X, Mr Bray said Ode To Joy was played “out of respect (at) background volume”.

He posted: “If you were at Downing Street there was a man with megaphone slagging off Labour and Keir constant. It could be heard so there you go. Not disrespectful in my opinion, but you are entitled to your opinion. It was Ode to Joy or the guy with the megaphone shouting all the way through.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch wrote to the Met Chief at the end of June to demand he acts to stop noisy protestors becoming a “national embarrassment”.

She said that Mr Bray has an "aggressive style of protest" and "is anti-social, a nuisance, and a national embarrassment."

The activist, who is a former Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, previously played Things Can Only Get Better by D-Ream when Mr Sunak called a general election outside Number 10 in 2024.

The song is closely associated with New Labour and Tony Blair’s election victory in 1997.

Mr Bray became a fixture outside Parliament during the years after the Brexit referendum, and was known as “Stop Brexit Man” for playing music and shouting “Stop Brexit” through a loudspeaker.

Mr Bray, from Port Talbot, now keeps his appearances in Westminster to large events and Wednesdays when Prime Minister’s Questions takes place.

In April 2025 he was cleared of breaking a police ban after he played anti-Conservative and anti-Brexit edits of songs outside Parliament a year earlier.

Mr Bray successfully defended himself and said it was part of his right to peaceful protest.

He has previously held demonstrations at the Conservative Party Conference, and outside Boris and Carrie Johnson’s wedding.