After the PM announced he was going on holiday yesterday, Greenpeace have this morning climbed on top of Rishi Sunak’s house and draped it in oil-black fabric.
Oil licences
It comes as Rishi Sunak announced that the government would grant 100 new North Sea oil and gas licences.
He defended the new licences, saying they were “entirely consistent” with government climate commitments.
But critics say today’s plans show the government is not serious about tackling climate change.
Shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband said Sunak’s “weak and confused policy… will do nothing for our energy security, and drive a coach and horses through our climate commitments”.
Protest
The climbers managed to get on top of his constituency home in Kirby Sigston, near Northallerton, on Thursday morning, as the prime minister flew to California on holiday.
Activists could be seen sat on the roof of the swanky home holding a giant sign that reads ‘no new oil’.
The house itself became invisible, masked in the 200-metres of fabric covering it entirely.
Rishi Sunak’s house
On their website Greenpeace wrote
BREAKING: Climbers are draping Rishi Sunak’s mansion in an oil-black fabric to protest against new oil..
He’s just said he’s going to continue handing out new oil licences and he’s on the cusp of approving Rosebank, the largest undeveloped oil field in the North Sea. This will be a climate disaster and will do nothing to lower bills, so we need your help to stop it.
We’ve seen governments make countless u-turns when enough public pressure is put on them. Let’s force Rishi Sunak to pick a side: oil profits or our future?
Please tweet at the Prime Minister to get #NoNewOil and #StopRosebank trending, and join the thousands of people fighting to stop this disastrous new oil field.
A poll released on Wednesday showed that 67 percent of voters believe the government is handling environmental issues badly, the worst rating since YouGov began tracking public opinion on the issue in mid-2019.
Watch
Related: As Sunak appears to drop green credentials this post has gone viral
