Sir Keir Starmer’s first visit to Scotland as prime minister turned into humiliation as he was forced to sneak into Bute House by the back door and unable to leave until police dispersed crowds of protesters drawn overwhelmingly from the Palestine solidarity movement.
The newly-appointed Labour PM headed to the official residence of First Minister John Swinney on Sunday afternoon after an event with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, effectively the opening salvo in Labour’s campaign to win the Scottish Parliament elections in 2026.
Earlier in the day, Starmer called Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu — who is overseeing the ongoing genocide in Gaza and escalating settler violence in the West Bank — and told him that he “looked forward to further deepening the close relationship between the two countries”.
When Israel launched its military assault in Gaza last year and said it would indefinitely withhold power and water from its civilian population, Starmer told British journalists that Israel “has the right” to do so — contradicting UN human rights experts who identified this as a war crime. The SNP described it at the time as the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people”.
It took more than four months for Starmer to add his voice to international calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, and even then he made it conditional on commitments by Hamas. His new government has refused to commit to ending British arms exports to Israel and has indicated it will not follow the likes of Ireland, Spain and Norway in unilaterally recognising Palestinian statehood.
As news of Starmer’s visit to Scotland spread, groups of well-connected protesters, mostly mobilised via the Edinburgh Gaza Genocide Emergency Committee, began gathering at the front of Bute House from around 4.30pm, with the crowd eventually swelling to well over 100 people.
Charlotte Square heard devastating human testimony from Scots whose family members have been murdered, and rang out with chants including “Keir Starmer, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide!” and “Keir Starmer, what do you say, how many kids have you killed today?”
Though most of the banners and placards shared messages of solidarity with Palestine, a handful highlighted Labour’s right-wing turn on welfare, immigration and LGBT+ rights as well as the party’s continued denial of a Scottish independence referendum. The Radical Independence Campaign displayed a banner carrying words from the internationalist Freedom Come-All-Ye.
An hour in, a smaller group of protesters who had gathered at the back of Bute House reported that Starmer’s car had driven into the car park — he had entered by the back door, prompting cries of “coward!” and “feartie!”. Journalists packed up their tripods and headed inside to loud boos.
Paul Laverty had used the sound system to challenge the assembled media to seek answers from Starmer and cited Gramsci as he decried their complicity in enabling mass slaughter. Chants highlighted the murders of journalists in Gaza and the banning of Al Jazeera from Israeli airwaves.
Despite avoiding the crowds, the BBC reported that Starmer’s meeting with Swinney was “almost literally drowned out… the chants and cries could clearly be heard inside the room”.
It later emerged that Swinney failed to raise Gaza with Starmer in the course of their meeting. Speakers at the demonstration pointed out that Swinney’s government has also handed public money to arms companies implicated in the Israeli murder of Palestinian civilians. The SNP-run Scottish Government can rightly also expect to be challenged by the movement.
As the meeting came to a close, protesters manoeuvred around the building and covered all three exits, forcing Starmer to delay his exit and putting him at risk of missing his scheduled flight to Belfast, the next stop on his ‘UK tour’.
Eventually, a handful of police officers forced back a crowd of protesters to allow his motorcade to speed away. The police operation was relatively small and a more determined crowd could perhaps have detained him for longer. In the end, there were no arrests.
The protest, organised at extremely short notice, was widely considered a success. As well as giving a glimpse of what will constitute the Scottish coalition against Starmer, the BBC acknowledged: “The leaders had been expected to pose for a picture outside Bute House. However, due to the protest the prime minister entered and left by the back door.” Starmer will have no honeymoon in Scotland.
