Laughing at the law: Smirking Greenpeace activists are arrested over protest at Rishi Sunak’s £2m home amid fury at ‘major security breach’ with police arriving TWO HOURS after activists knocked on PM’s door, climbed on roof and unfurled black banners
- Protesters clambered on to the Prime Minister’s £2million mansion
- They draped the property in North Yorkshire in ‘2,150sq ft of oil-black fabric’
- ** Do you know the activists on Rishi Sunak’s roof? Email: [email protected] **
Four Greenpeace activists were arrested today after demonstrating for seven hours on the roof of Rishi Sunak’s £2million mansion while he was away on a family holiday.
The protesters arrived at the Prime Minister’s house in Richmond, North Yorkshire, at 6am, two hours before police were alerted just after 8am. They eventually came down around 1pm before being loaded into the back of police vans and taken away.
Now, major security questions have been raised over how the stunt was carried out, while Mr Sunak spends ten days in the US with his wife and two daughters.
Greenpeace said it draped his home in ‘200sq m (2,150sq ft) of oil-black fabric’ in a protest at his backing for a major expansion of North Sea oil and gas drilling.
At the same time, two further activists on the ground unfurled a banner featuring the words ‘Rishi Sunak – Oil Profits or Our Future?’ across the grass in front of the house.
The group claimed they knocked on the door upon their arrival and said: ‘This is a peaceful protest.’ But there was no answer. It is not known who reported them to police, but by the time officers arrived, the four were on the roof, 40ft above ground.
Greenpeace activists are led away by police after they climbed on the roof of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s house in Richmond, North Yorkshire, and covered it in black fabric today
Greenpeace activists are led away by police from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s house today
One of the Greenpeace activists smiles as she is led away by police from the house today
Police holding climbing gear after Greenpeace activists climbed onto Mr Sunak’s roof today
Greenpeace activists on the roof of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s house in Richmond today
One of the four roof activists was identified as Alex Wilson, who is originally from East Yorkshire but now lives in Newcastle with their partner Amy, who was also among the four on the roof. Wilson said they are a ‘volunteer climber with Greenpeace’ and were joined on the roof by ‘Mike and Matteo’.
Posting a video message from the roof today, 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. This will be a disaster for the climate.’
On the ground, activist Philip Evans told BBC News: ‘We’re here to bring home to the Prime Minister the really serious consequences of a new drilling frenzy in the North Sea.’ Mr Evans refused to say how the protesters gained access to the property.
The incident prompted serious questions about how the group was able to carry out the stunt so easily, with former North Yorkshire Deputy Chief Constable Peter Walker saying it was a ‘major breach of security’.
Mr Walker, who spent 30 years in the police until retiring in 2003, told LBC radio today: ‘I am absolutely astonished that they have been able to gain the access that they have. It is clearly, in my view, a major breach of security. Obviously, nobody was there to prevent what they were doing and they’ve had access to the roof as well.
‘They have done a protest and don’t appear to have caused any damage but, if free access is being granted to that property, people who wanted to do much more serious things would be able to leave devices, booby traps… I think this is a major failing and it grieves me to say it because it’s my old police force that’s failed.’
An aerial view of Greenpeace activists on the roof of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s house today
Four Greenpeace activists climbed on the roof of Rishi Sunak’s home in North Yorkshire today
Greenpeace activists on the roof of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s house in Richmond today
The protesters clambered on the Prime Minister’s £2million mansion in Yorkshire
‘I suspect that what has happened is that people have not done their job – in an operational sense – who are much closer to the action. But there really does need to be a significant investigation into how this has been allowed to happen.’
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Mr Sunak is not at the property after leaving to go on a US family holiday today with his wife Akshata Murty and their daughters Krishna, 12, and Anoushka, ten.
The Prime Minister is expected to spend about ten days abroad on the West Coast and will visit Disneyland in California – leaving Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden in charge of the UK.
Alicia Kearns, the senior Tory who chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said the protest action today was ‘unacceptable’.
She said: ‘Politicians live in the public eye and rightly receive intense scrutiny, but their family homes should not be under assault. Before long police will need to be stationed outside the home of every MP.’
And Conservative backbencher Brendan Clarke-Smith added: ‘MPs and their families have enough to worry about with their security without extremist groups and their spoilt activists pulling stunts like this at their homes to promote their unrealistic, extravagant demands and student union-level politics.’
The Grade II-listed property, which was built in 1826, was purchased by Mr Sunak after he became the Conservative MP for the Richmond constituency in 2015.
Greenpeace has insisted the protesters were aware that Mr Sunak was not in – and also knew how to climb up safely and how to avoid causing damage to the property.
Greenpeace activists on the roof of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s house in Richmond today
Police near Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s house in Richmond, North Yorkshire, this morning
Greenpeace activists on the roof of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s house in Richmond today
The activists went on the roof and draped it it in what they described as ‘oil-black fabric’
Rishi Sunak left to go on a family holiday today with his wife Akshata Murty and their daughters Krishna, 12, and Anoushka, ten. They are pictured at the cinema to see Barbie on July 22
The demonstration follows a vow by Mr Sunak this week to ‘max out’ opportunities in the North Sea as he pledged to stand up for the oil and gas industry.
How Russia’s invasion has turned the spotlight on energy security
Britain in 2019 set a 2050 net zero carbon emission target and was quick to build up its renewable energy capacity.
But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has turned the spotlight on energy security, with the Government this week committing to granting hundreds of licences for North Sea oil and gas extraction as part of efforts to become more energy independent.
It also approved its first new deep coal mine in decades in December.
A poll released yesterday showed 67 per cent of voters thought the government was handling environmental issues badly, the worst rating since mid-2019 when YouGov began tracking public opinion on the issue.
Some within the Conservative Party are alarmed over the Prime Minister’s perceived backsliding over environmental commitments, with minister Zac Goldsmith, who quit in June, saying Mr Sunak was uninterested in green issues.
But Mr Sunak defended his environmental record this week, saying Britain had done a better job than other major countries in cutting carbon emissions.
United Nations scientists and environmental groups have called on global leaders to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels after a summer of record high temperatures, drought and floods linked to man-made climate change.
Burning oil and gas to power vehicles, factories and electricity generating stations releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide, which is said to be the main driver of global warming.
The Prime Minister confirmed 100 new licences were set to get the green light and signalled support for the controversial Rosebank development west of Shetland.
Mr Dowden told protesters to ‘stop the stupid stunts’.
Speaking on a visit to Able Seaton Port in Hartlepool, he said: ‘I think what most people would say is, ‘Can you stop the stupid stunts’. Actually, what they want to see from Government is action.
‘That’s what you’re seeing here today – the world’s largest offshore wind farm being built right here, creating jobs.
‘But at the same time we’re going to need in the coming decades oil and gas as part of our energy mix. The question is do we produce it here, where we get more tax, we create more jobs, or do we do what the Labour and others say which is say ‘no more investment in our North Sea oil and gas’?’
But Mr 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.
‘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.’
Speaking outside the house, Mr Evans added that the four activists had been on the roof of Mr Sunak’s house since around 6am and were ‘holding firm for now’.
Mr Evans told the PA news agency they had made sure the Prime Minister’s family were on holiday and not going to be at home before carrying out the protest.
Police at the scene of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s constituency home in Richmond
Greenpeace activists on the roof of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s house in Richmond
A police officer directs traffic this morning near the property in Richmond, North Yorkshire
Greenpeace described the Prime Minister as ‘cynical’ as it carried out the protest today
Greenpeace activists on the roof of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s house in Richmond
Police at the scene of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s constituency home in Richmond
Greenpeace activists on the roof of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s house in Richmond
‘It’s an incredibly dangerous thing to be saying, and in general there’s been an attack on the climate since the Uxbridge by-election. Rishi Sunak’s Government has been the worst Government we’ve had on climate.’
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Asked whether it was intrusive to target someone’s home, Mr Evans said: ‘This is the Prime Minister. He is the one that was standing in Scotland going to drill for every last drop of oil while the world is burning.
‘He is personally responsible for that decision and we’re all going to be paying a high price if he goes through with it. It is personal.’
A No10 source told MailOnline: ‘The police are in attendance. 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 Putin for our energy.
‘We are also investing in renewables and our approach supports thousands of British jobs.’
Meanwhile, junior minister Alex Burghart, Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, tweeted today that the activists were ‘plonkers’.
A leading security expert said the lack of protection around Mr Sunak’s house was ‘greatly concerning’.
Will Geddes, who has over 20 years’ experience in specialist security, has also said Mr Sunak’s address ‘shouldn’t be that easily available’ and questions should be asked about how much more information about the Prime Minister can be found online.
Police at the scene of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s constituency home in Richmond
Greenpeace activists on the roof of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s house in Richmond
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s constituency home in Richmond is targeted by Greenpeace
Greenpeace activists on the roof of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s house in Richmond
He added: ‘Greenpeace has found out this information of where he lives, which shouldn’t be that easily available, so there’s got to be questions asked about why this information was acquired and how much of this is available.
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‘It’s not just about him, but about other members of the Cabinet that could potentially be exploited by someone with a much more malevolent agender.
‘Greenpeace must have carried something out in advance, as do terrorists and as do kidnappers, to basically have a determination of whose in the property, is it protected, what is the security like and how easy it is to get into the house.
‘The fact he’s not there doesn’t actually diminish the risk level.
‘If a terrorist wants to put a potential explosive device in the house, then they could seal it somewhere in the property, or near the property or somewhere on the property grounds.
‘That could potentially cause harm later as it could be detonated later. There’s serious question marks about how protected is the property when he’s not there.
‘We’ve seen Premier League football players get burgled when they are overseas on holiday, so if these guys were able to get on the roof then the spectrum of threats that could impact him, is immense. It goes from burglary all the way up to terrorism.’
Another security expert, Graham Yuill, 66, said Russian president Vladimir Putin would be ‘picking up’ on the audacious stunt at the mansion.
And he warned Mr Sunak would now be a ‘sitting duck’ at the property – with foreign agents specialising in attacks on homes studying the huge lapse in his private security.
The activists are protesting against Mr Sunak’s backing for more North Sea oil and gas drilling
Greenpeace activists walk on top of Mr Sunak’s home today and prepare to drape the banner
The protesters carry out the stunt on the Prime Minister’s mansion in Yorkshire this morning
The protesters walk on top of the property as they prepare to drape the banner over it
SAS-trained Mr Yuill said: ‘I believe the Prime Minister and Boris Johnson are on Putin’s number one [hit] list, and certainly he’s put him in his sights for assassination following Ukraine.
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‘There’s been a clear breach of security. Putin and the GRU [the Russian intelligence agency] will be picking up on this – and the New IRA hasn’t gone away.
‘He could have been captured. He has to tighten up security measures in the house immediately. The Prime Minister’s got lucky.
‘The head of the MI5’s place is like a fortress. So how has this happened to the Prime Minister, who has a bodyguard team of 17 plus MI5 and anti-terrorist police?
‘What’s happened is they’ve broken the golden rule and been taken by surprise. He’s now a sitting duck, and I think heads should roll.’
Mr Yuill said politicians were particularly at risk in their homes while adding that GRU agents, from the feared Russian intelligence agency, were trained in hiding deadly explosives.
He went on: ‘You’re more likely to be attacked at your house, place of residence or your place of work. That’s where they’re most vulnerable.
‘Agents could have taken his lightbulb that he’s got at the side of his bed and replaced it with another lightbulb, which has got explosives inside. As soon as he turns on the lightbulb, the trigger goes off as well.
‘The GRU specialise in breaking into people’s house.’
A police spokesman said: ‘North Yorkshire Police was made aware at 8.06am this morning of a number of protesters climbing on to the roof of the Prime Minister’s home.
Activists stand on top of the roof as they get the ‘oil-black fabric’ banner ready to drop
The activists hang ‘oil-black fabric’ over the front of the Prime Minister’s house today
Greenpeace activists work together to carry out the stunt at the property in Yorkshire today
Two activists on the grass at the Yorkshire property unfurl a banner at the same time
‘Officers have contained the area and no one has entered the building. At present there are four protesters on the roof of the property. The PM and his family are not at home.’
The protest follows Mr Sunak saying he was expecting his climate-conscious daughters to grill him on his plans to ‘max out’ the UK’s oil and gas reserves.
The Prime Minister said he was confident he could win them over with his argument that the UK can reach net zero by 2050 while continuing to drill for fossil fuels.
He told LBC Radio yesterday that the girls, Krishna and Anoushka, are not ‘eco-zealots’ and are ‘open to sensible, practical arguments’.
He made his comments while he was questioned about his decision to grant more than 100 new licences for oil and gas extraction in the North Sea, for which he is facing a growing backlash for allegedly betraying climate pledges.
Separately today, there was a protesters from the Mothers Rise Up group at Downing Street
A group of mothers concerned about climate change gather for a protest outside No10 today
Protesters from Mothers Rise Up demonstrate outside the entrance to Downing Street today
The Mothers Rise Up demonstrators protest today outside the entrance to Downing Street
The plans have been criticised by climate campaigners, opposition parties and even leading green Conservatives amid fears of how they will affect the UK’s mission to slash greenhouse gas emissions.
Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps met with industry leaders in Downing Street yesterday to discuss the Government’s decision to invest in home-grown energy sources, including renewables, nuclear power and backing North Sea oil and gas.
Downing Street said Mr Sunak’s trip to the US was the first time since 2019 when he became chief secretary to the Treasury that he has taken time off with his family.
His previous attempts at foreign holidays have been curtailed by events. A trip to Ibiza last September was cut short after just 15 hours by the Queen’s death.
He had planned to spend Christmas in 2021 in California with his family until cases of the Covid omicron variant began surging in the UK, forcing him to drop the plan.
A separate protest also took place outside Mr Sunak’s Downing Street residence today by Mothers Rise Up, a group of mothers concerned about climate change.
Protest organiser Lorna Powell, 37, said: ‘We all know that climate science screams that we cannot have more fossil fuels… I am really furious on behalf of my kids.
‘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.’
** Do you know the activists on Rishi Sunak’s roof? Email: [email protected] **
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