Greenpeace activists were arrested on Thursday after scaling UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s constituency home in northern England and covering it with black fabric in protest of his fossil fuel policy. Sunak approved hundreds of additional oil and gas licenses in the North Sea off the east coast of Britain this week, infuriating environmentalists.
“We desperately need our prime minister to be a climate leader, not a climate arsonist,” said Philip Evans, a climate campaigner with Greenpeace UK.
“Just as wildfires and floods wreck homes and lives around the world, Sunak is committing to a massive expansion of oil and gas drilling.”
Greenpeace UK released footage of four activists scaling the top of Sunak’s mansion in Richmond, north Yorkshire, and covering it with black sheeting.
It was then revealed that the protestors had been arrested who spent around five hours on Sunak’s roof.
On the front yard, two more demonstrators unfurled a banner that read, “Rishi Sunak — Oil Profits or Our Future?”
The prime minister and his family are on vacation in California right now.
“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,” said Evans.
“This is cynical beyond belief.”
Separately, group of mothers gathered outside the parliament to protest against government’s policy.
“We all know that climate science screams that we cannot have more fossil fuels… I am really furious on behalf of my kids,” said protest organiser Lorna Powell, 37.
“Instead of being a climate leader and acting in the right way, he’s decided that he is going to use it as a political game to try and stoke a culture war,” she added.
