Greenpeace activists have covered Rishi Sunak’s £2m mansion in oil-black fabric after climbing on to the roof of the property in North Yorkshire.
The four activists used ladders and climbing ropes to reach the roof of the manor house in Kirby Sigston before unfolding the 200 square metres of fabric.
Two of the environmental campaign group’s activists also unfurled a banner with the words “Rishi Sunak – Oil Profits or Our Future?” across the grass in front of the mansion.
The group was acting in protest against the prime minister’s “backing for a major expansion of North Sea oil and gas drilling” – where it will grant 100 new oil and gas licences off the coast of Scotland.
Mr Sunak is on holiday in California so was not in his mansion this morning.
A Number 10 source has said police are now at the property.
They added: “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. We are also investing in renewables and our approach supports 1000s of British jobs.”
North Yorkshire Police has confirmed its officers are at the scene “managing the situation”.
Sunak is a ‘climate arsonist’
Greenpeace has said it is also carrying out its protest because Mr Sunak has indicated he will approve drilling at Rosebank – the UK’s largest undeveloped oil field.
The group says the move “flies in the face of multiple warnings from the government’s own climate advisers, the International Energy Agency and the UN Secretary General that any new fossil fuel projects risk tipping the world into the danger zone above 1.5C of warming”.
Climate-conscious Conservatives have joined campaigners in warning against Mr Sunak’s plans to grant the licences for extraction in the North Sea amid concerns it will hinder efforts to reach net-zero by 2050.
Commenting after this morning’s protest, Philip Evans, a Greenpeace UK 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.
“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.”
