Labour’s Angela Rayner heckled by green protesters at Edinburgh event

Labour’s Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner, was heckled by environmental protestors at an Edinburgh Fringe event on Monday.

The interview with LBC broadcaster Iain Dale was concluding when campaigners from Green New Deal Rising stood up and addressed the senior Labour figure, saying they were “terrified” for their future.

The intervention came just as Dale was about to ask the question submitted by one of the protestors, Kate. When the interviewer said “Can I ask your question?”, the protester replied “No”, and began to vocalise their fears about climate breakdown.

The protesters – four young adults, seemingly accompanied by an older man – left the event to the sound of boos from audience members.

Iain Dale was heard saying “Do you seriously expect a single person in this room will be converted to your cause by behaving like that? I suspect not”.

Green New Deal Rising is a campaign group that advocates for a Green New Deal to be introduced in law; a ten-year plan to change the UK economy to ensure the target of net-zero carbon emissions is achieved as soon as possible.

The bill is backed by Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs including Zarah Sultana, Layla Moran and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The Labour Party’s 2019 manifesto contained plans for a Green Industrial Revolution, with similar plans to those demanded by GNDR, including ending a “fixation on [economic] growth” and decarbonising the energy industry.

Iain Dale All Talk will see other senior politicians interviewed as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the coming weeks, including Sir Keir Starmer and Nicola Sturgeon.

The Edinburgh Tab has approached Angela Rayner’s office and the Labour Party for comment on this story. 

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