Rishi Sunak: Defra ‘cuts ties’ with Greenpeace after anti-oil protest at PM’s home
Campaigners draped PM’s home in black cloth while he was away on holiday with his family in California
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Rishi Sunak’s environment secretary Therese Coffey has ordered her department to suspend its engagement with Greenpeace, after activists staged an anti-oil protest at the PM’s constituency home.
The largely symbolic display of anger came as former home secretary Priti Patel and ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith raised concerns about Mr Sunak’s security arrangements, following the demonstration on the roof his constituency manor house.
The campaigners draped his home with an oil-black fabric at the prime minister’s North Yorkshire home to protest against the government’s plans to allow licences to be granted for further development of North Sea oil and gas.
North Yorkshire Police said the activists scaled the roof of his home at about 8am on Thursday, while Mr Sunak, his wife and children were on holiday in California, and stayed up until around 1.15pm, when they were arrested, before being released pending further enquiries.
Protester Alex Wilson said: “We’re all here because Rishi Sunak has opened the door to a new drilling frenzy in the North Sea while large parts of our world are literally on fire.”
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“Unsackable” Jeremy Hunt looks set to stay as chancellor as Rishi Sunak eyes a Cabinet reshuffle while striving desperately to cut inflation eating into cash-strapped households’ budgets.
According to The Times, colleagues are said to believe there is no prospect of Mr Hunt being removed as chancellor, following the market chaos sparked by the turbulence of his predecessor Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-Budget, which saw her fire her chancellor and close political ally Kwasi Kwarteng.
Mr Sunak is expected to make limited changes, according to The Times, which links Michael Gove to the role of health secretary and reports that the PM is keen to promote “rising stars” to the lower ranks of ministers of state, in an attempt to build a new-look “election-ready” Cabinet.
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Rishi Sunak takes a stroll along sun-soaked pier with family during California summer holiday
Rishi Sunak has kicked off his summer holiday strolling along a sun-soaked pier with his family in California, reports Sophie Wingate.
The prime minister, his wife Akshata Murty, and two young daughters were pictured at an amusement park on the buzzy Santa Monica Pier on Thursday, the first day of their US trip.
Rishi Sunak takes a stroll with family during California summer holiday
Prime minister, his wife and daughters pictured at amusement park on Santa Monica Pier
‘This isn’t about the government engaging with Greenpeace,’ charity says
Greenpeace has responded after environment secretary Therese Coffey was reported to have ordered her department to cut ties with the charity over its anti-oil protest on the roof of Rishi Sunak’s constituency home.
Greenpeace defended the protest as “entirely peaceful” and diligently planned to avoid safety risks.
The group’s UK co-executive director, Will McCallum, said: “This isn’t about the government engaging with Greenpeace, it’s about them engaging with the world around them. The planet is on fire and Rishi Sunak is acting like nothing’s happening.”
Exclusive: Chris Packham ‘surprised Rishi Sunak didn’t have more security’
Chris Packham has said he was surprised Rishi Sunak “didn’t have more security” after Greenpeace activists scaled his home in protest over new North Sea gas and oil drillings.
Five climate protestors were arrested on Thursday after they draped a black cloth over the prime minister’s North Yorkshire manor house while he was away on holiday with his family. After climbing to the roof of the house with ladders, the activists unfurled the material and brandished a banner demanding “no new oil”.
Wildlife presenter Mr Packham defended the stunt, as questions grow about how it could have happened in the first place.
“I’m rather surprised that Mr Sunak did not have more security in place,” Mr Packham told The Independent, while he cautioned: “I sincerely hope that none of Mr Sunak’s property was damaged. No one was harmed. It was peaceful.”
My colleague Maryam Zakir-Hussain has the full exclusive report here:
Chris Packham ‘surprised Sunak didn’t have more security’ as he defends Greenpeace
Exclusive: The Wildlife presenter called the climate activists ‘canaries in a coal mine’ as he called for dialogue
Former police chief ‘astonished’ protesters were able to protest at Sunak’s home
Peter Walker, who stepped down as North Yorkshire Police’s deputy chief constable in 2003, said he was “absolutely astonished” that protesters gained access to Rishi Sunak’s house, as he called for an investigation.
He told LBC: “It is clearly in my view a major breach of security.”
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Opinion | Politics is about to get truly ugly as Sunak pollutes climate change debate
Rishi Sunak has “announced a plan to max out on North Sea oil and gas – granting hundreds of new licences for exploration and production while winking at the political editors that this was part of an aggressive new ‘divide and rule’ strategy in the wake of the Uxbridge by-election, writes Alan Rusbridger.
Brace yourself to be drowned by a year of headlines about migrants, trans rights and crime. They are classic “wedge issues”, the unlovely Australian political tactic devised to bludgeon ugly election wins.
But climate change? Isn’t Sunak bigger than to make this most critical of causes the latest front in the culture wars? Apparently not.
Read his thoughts in full here:
Alan Rusbridger | The Independent
The latest breaking news, comment and features from The Independent.
Greenpeace has received ‘both kinds of opinions’ over protest at Sunak’s home
Areeba Hamid, co-executive director of Greenpeace, said the group has received “both kinds of opinions” online since its protest at Rishi Sunak’s constituency home.
She told Sky News: “Protests are disruptive by nature, for the amount of comments that we have received online saying we don’t agree with you, an equal amount of people are saying ‘this was brilliant, you made your point, it was peaceful, it didn’t disrupt normal people’s everyday lives, you took it to the home of the decision maker’.
“So there’s both kinds of opinions, also, it’s important to remember that this is just one tactic that organisation like Greenpeace use, I often describe Greenpeace as a Swiss army knife.”
She added: “I think the point that we want to make is Rishi Sunak needs to be held accountable for this decision and we need to hold politicians accountable when they make terrible decisions like these.”
Exclusive: Chris Packham accuses Sunak of playing ‘political football’ with green policies
Chris Packham has accused Rishi Sunak of using the environment as a “political football” as he issues a stark warning to the government’s “astonishing and disappointing” oil and sea agenda.
The wildlife presenter and naturalist has given the major political parties an ultimatum to stop sanctioning future licensing of oil and gas or risk losing votes in a new campaign he launches today.
My colleague Maryam Zakir-Hussain has his exclusive remarks here:
Chris Packham accuses Sunak of playing ‘political football’ with green policies
Exclusive: ‘Climate change has come home to roost,’ Wildlife presenter says, as he gives ultimatum to stop sanctioning future licensing of oil and gas
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