Greenpeace protest at Rishi Sunak's home over North Sea oil

Greenpeace have said activists have scaled the Prime Minister’s property in Richmond, North Yorkshire.

The group blanketed the home in black fabric in protest over Rishi Sunak’s announcement earlier this week backing more North Sea oil and gas licences.

A number 10 spokesman said police were in attendance at the property.

They said: “The police are in attendance.

The plans have been criticised by climate campaigners, opposition parties and even leading green Conservatives (Image: Luca Marino/Greenpeace/PA Wire)

“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.”

Philip 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 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.

Tory MP Chris Skidmore, who led the Government’s net-zero review, has said the move is the “on the wrong side of modern voters” and “on the wrong side of history”.

UN chief Antonio Guterres has called countries increasing the production of fossil fuels “truly dangerous radicals”.

But Mr Sunak dismissed the concerns, saying “I 100% believe that what I’m doing is right”.

“What I would say, not just to him (the UN Secretary General) but more generally, is let’s look at the record. Which G7 country out of the large countries of America, Italy, France, Germany, us, Canada, Japan – which of those countries has decarbonised fastest over the past years or decades? Which one? It’s the UK, right?

“So we should not take any lectures from anybody about our record. Our record is fantastic.”