Keir Starmer hit with massive snub as band behind Blair's hit '97 anthem say 'never again'
Rishi Sunak was barely two minutes into his General Election announcement when D:Ream's Things Can Only Get Better began blaring near Number 10 Downing Street.
The band behind New Labour’s 1997 victory song has admitted it would snub a request from Sir Keir Starmer for permission to use another track.
D:Ream’s founding members Alan Mackenzie and Peter Cunnah said they were dismayed when they heard “Things Could Only Get Better” behind Rishi Sunak’s election announcement.
They revealed their first thought was: “Not again”.
Speaking from his recording studio at home in Donegal, Mr Cunnah said: “The fact that it’s gone back to a political thing, I find disturbing. I was thinking, can we get on with our lives? But now it’s come back.
“You question, are we just some sort of protest song on a speaker down at the end of a street? It's like some very odd piece of gravity that you just can't escape.”
The band has expressed regret at letting Tony Blair use the track in 1997, saying they were accused of “having blood on their hands” after the UK got involved with the war in Iraq.
Mr Cunnah said: “I remember clearly, there was this wonderful sea change, and the nation had this feeling that there was a need for change.
“Everyone was really behind it and giving Labour the benefit of the doubt. But after the war, I became politically homeless.”
His bandmate, Al Mackenzie, who spoke from his home in the Midlands, also added: “I don’t think politics and music should be linked.
“It's happened to a lot of other bands as well in America and here because songs get sort of intrinsically linked to something, it can really affect it in a negative way.
“I mean, I'll be voting to get the Tories out, but I don't really want the song to be linked to that.”
When asked what they’d say if they had been approached by Sir Keir Starmer with a request to use one of their songs, said: “There’s no way - our songs and politics, never again.”
Speaking to LBC, Mr Cunnah said: “I've learned the hard way. No, no, no,” adding, “this is a change of guard, I don't see this as an election. It's just a change of guard, someone handing the baton on.
“I can see they're going to stay in Ukraine, they're going to feed weapons and arms to Israel. It's disgusting.
Referring to ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ drowning out Rishi Sunak’s election announcement last week, he said: “Obviously doing that was, for most people, a funny move.
“But for me, the whole world turned up again, everyone was ringing on the phone promising me the earth again like it's 1997. I'm too long in the tooth to get pulled into that, you know.”
The protester who played Things Can Only Get Better during Rishi Sunak’s election speech said he chose the New Labour tune because it was the “top trolling song for the Conservatives”.
Anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray said he selected the D:Ream song for its association with the Tory landslide defeat in the 1997 general election rather than as a show of support for Labour in the upcoming campaign.
He added that his protest outside Downing Street was paused when his two amplifiers became soaked and stopped working during heavy rain in Westminster.
