Greenpeace activists climbed on the roof of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s home in North Yorkshire in protest of 100 North Sea oil and gas licenses on Thursday morning. Five people were arrested.
The activist group said protesters had unrolled “oil-black fabric” down one side of Sunak’s home at Kirby Sigston, close to Northallerton. When Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden was asked about the incident, he said the British people were “sick of these stupid stunts.”
Sunak confirmed that neither he nor his family were home at the time of the incident. The authorities reportedly responded to “reports of protest activity,” per BBC.
Four activists used ladders to climb atop the prime minister’s home to drape the building in a jet-black fabric. Two men and two women were arrested after they returned to the ground on suspicion of causing criminal damage and public nuisance. A third man was arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance. The group remains in North Yorkshire Police custody.
Alicia Kearns, the Conservative chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the action was “unacceptable.” She went on to say that the family homes of politicians should “not be under assault.”
“Before long police will need to be stationed outside the home of every MP,” she continued.
However, a protester said that “we’re here to bring home to the prime minister the really serious consequences of a new drilling frenzy in the North Sea.” But the protester would not say how the activists had gained entry to the home.
The outlet reported that a Prime Minister's Office source said: “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 1000s of British jobs.”
Peter Walker, who left the force in 2003, questioned how protesters could have gained access to Sunak’s home, saying: “You really have to wonder how people have been able to gain access to the prime minister’s residence without hindrance.”
Sunak has lived at the residence since 2015, when he purchased it after becoming the MP for the rural Richmond constituency.
