Greenpeace activists have climbed on the roof of Rishi Sunak’s North Yorkshire mansion and draped it in oily-black fabric to “drive home the dangerous consequences of a new drilling frenzy”.
The climbers managed to get on top of Sunak’s constituency home in Kirby Sigston, near Northallerton, on Thursday morning, as the prime minister flew to California on holiday.
After reaching the top of Kirby Sigston Manor using ladders and climbing ropes, they unfolded 200 sq metres of oil-black fabric to cover a whole side of the property. At the same time, two other activists unfurled a banner stating: “Rishi Sunak – Oil Profits or Our Future?” across the grass in front of the house.
This week the prime minister pledged to “max out” the UK’s oil and gas reserves as he announced more than 100 new licences for North Sea drilling, which experts said could be catastrophic for the climate. But in 2021, the International Energy Agency said there can be no new oil, gas and coal developments if the world is to reach net zero by 2050.
Greenpeace said the protest aimed to stop Sunak from approving Rosebank, the biggest undeveloped oil and gas field in the North Sea, the operations of which would be enough to exceed the UK’s carbon budgets.
A No 10 source told PA Media that police were at the property. “We make no apology for taking the right approach to ensure our energy security, using the resources we have here at home so we are never reliant on aggressors like [Vladimir] Putin for our energy,” the source said. “We are also investing in renewables and our approach supports 1000s of British jobs.”
Philip Evans, Greenpeace UK’s climate campaigner, said: “We desperately need our prime minister to be a climate leader, not a climate arsonist. Just as wildfires and floods wreck homes and lives around the world, Sunak is committing to a massive expansion of oil and gas drilling.
“He seems quite happy to hold a blowtorch to the planet if he can score a few political points by sowing division around climate in this country. This is cynical beyond belief.
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“Sunak is even willing to peddle the old myth about new oil and gas helping ordinary people struggling with energy bills when he knows full well it’s not true. More North Sea drilling will only benefit oil giants who stand to make even more billions from it, partly thanks to a giant loophole in Sunak’s own windfall tax.
“The experts are clear – we can’t afford any new oil and gas, and the fossil fuel industry certainly doesn’t need another helping hand in destroying the climate. What we need is a clean, affordable energy system fit for the 21st century. It’s time for Sunak to choose between big oil’s profits or our future on a habitable planet.”
