London [UK], August 6:Greenpeace activists have been arrested after an hours-long protest on the roof of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's mansion over his new fossil fuel drilling "frenzy."
Four campaigners draped the prime minister's historically-listed manor house in North Yorkshire with an oil-black fabric to "drive home the dangerous consequences" on Thursday. Police were "managing the situation" after being called to the family home, built in 1826 in Kirby Sigston, near Northallerton, at about 8am (0700 GMT) when the activists climbed the roof while Sunak, his wife and children were on holiday in California.
The group returned to the ground at about 1:15pm and were being spoken to by officers before being loaded into the back of police vans.
North Yorkshire Police said two men and two women had been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage and public nuisance. Assistant Chief Constable Elliot Foskett said: "There was no threat to the wider public throughout this incident which has now been brought to a safe conclusion."
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, who is standing in for Sunak during his holiday, told the protesters to "stop the stupid stunts." A former deputy chief constable of North Yorkshire Police said it was a "major breach of security" as he called for an "investigation into how this has been allowed to happen."
Sunak, MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire, has said he plans to "max out" the UK's oil and gas reserves by granting more than 100 new licences for extraction in the North Sea. He has also hinted that the UK's largest untapped oil field, Rosebank, to the west of Shetland, could be approved despite fierce opposition from environmental campaigners.
Climate-conscious Conservatives have joined campaigners to warn against the move, amid concerns it will hinder efforts to reach net-zero by 2050.
After scaling the house, the four activists held up a banner demanding "no new oil" as they urged Sunak to "be a climate leader, not a climate arsonist." Protester Alex Wilson, who lives in Newcastle with her partner, who was also on the roof, released a video message from on the roof of Sunak's house.
"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," the climber, originally from East Yorkshire, said.
Source: Qatar Tribune