Rachel Reevesspeech to the Labour conference descended into chaos today when she was interrupted by a heckler.

The Chancellor faced shouts from a member of the audience about the sale of arms to Israel and climate change minutes into her address to the gathering in Liverpool.

He was promptly hauled out of the conference hall by security following the interruption.

Ms Reeves insisted Labour is “not a party of protest” after her speech was derailed by the heckler.

She said: “This is a changed Labour Party, a Labour Party that represents working people, not a party of protest.”

The Climate Resistance campaign group claimed responsibility for the protest.

Spokesperson Sam Simons said: “Labour promised us change – instead we’re getting more of the same. The same pandering to the fossil fuel industry; the same arms licences that are fuelling a genocide in Gaza, and the same austerity that sees the poorest hit hardest.

“It’s time for Labour to start putting the needs of people before the interests of profit. That means immediately stopping arms licences to Israel, blocking new oil and gas, and standing up for the communities already being devastated by the climate crisis.

“Half of the Labour cabinet took cash from Israel lobbyists and Rachel Reeves herself didn’t shy away from taking money from a known climate denier. How can we trust this government to take the urgent action we need to prevent both escalating genocide and climate breakdown when they’re so clearly in the pockets of fossil fuel and arms companies?”

Ms Reeves’ speech, a little over a month before her first Budget on October 30, was an attempt to strike a more optimistic tone about the UK’s economy after months of gloomy messages about the inheritance left by the Tories.

It comes after Labour officials faced boos and jeers in the hall earlier today after a debate put forward by unions on winter fuel payment cuts was delayed.

Unite and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) put forward a motion calling for the decision to introduce means-testing for the benefit to be reversed.

It was expected to be debated this afternoon shortly after Ms Reeves’s speech and the day before the PM’s address.

But it has been moved to Wednesday morning, a time when many delegates will have left the conference.

Lynne Morris, who chairs the conference arrangements committee (CAC), was heckled by some delegates as she said: “This is a really busy conference and we are trying to accommodate as much as we can, and I’m going to take this back straight to CAC and I’ll come back to you with an answer asap.”

Wendy Nichols, who was chairing the morning session of conference, said people should not be booed at conference.

She said: “We’ve all got different points of view but surely we should show respect to each other and let’s not continue the way it is today.”

Ms Nichols added: “Shouting from the back at somebody like me doesn’t work.

“This conference is being looked at all over the country, so let’s show a little bit of respect for each other and stop all the shouting and booing and everything else, it does us no favours.”