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Greenpeace activists have covered Rishi Sunak’s £2m mansion in oil-black fabric after climbing on to the roof of the property in North Yorkshire.

The four activists used ladders and climbing ropes to reach the roof of the manor house in Kirby Sigston before unfolding the 200 square metres of fabric.

Two of the environmental campaign group’s activists also unfurled a banner with the words “Rishi Sunak – Oil Profits or Our Future?” across the grass in front of the mansion.

The group was acting in protest against the prime minister’s “backing for a major expansion of North Sea oil and gas drilling” where it will grant 100 new oil and gas licences off the coast of Scotland.

Greenpeace activists have climbed to the roof of RIshi Sunak's home. Pic: Greenpeace
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Pic: Greenpeace

Mr Sunak is on holiday in California so was not in his mansion this morning.

A Number 10 source has said police are now at the property.

They added: “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.”

North Yorkshire Police has confirmed its officers are at the scene “managing the situation”.

Pic: Greenpeace
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Pic: Greenpeace

Pic: Greenpeace
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Pic: Greenpeace

Sunak is a ‘climate arsonist’

Greenpeace has said it is also carrying out its protest because Mr Sunak has indicated he will approve drilling at Rosebank – the UK’s largest undeveloped oil field.

The group says the move “flies in the face of multiple warnings from the government’s own climate advisers, the International Energy Agency and the UN Secretary General that any new fossil fuel projects risk tipping the world into the danger zone above 1.5C of warming”.

Climate-conscious Conservatives have joined campaigners in warning against Mr Sunak’s plans to grant the licences for extraction in the North Sea amid concerns it will hinder efforts to reach net-zero by 2050.

Pic: Greenpeace
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Pic: Greenpeace

Pic: Greenpeace
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Pic: Greenpeace

Commenting after this morning’s protest, Philip Evans, a Greenpeace UK 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.”

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‘There is a global race underway for Bitcoin’ — Anthony Pompliano

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<div>'There is a global race underway for Bitcoin' — Anthony Pompliano</div>

The election of a pro-crypto President in the United States and growing macroeconomic turmoil will continue to drive investors to Bitcoin.

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Sir Keir Starmer vows to defend budget decisions ‘all day long’ as farmers slam ‘disrespectful’ PM

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Sir Keir Starmer vows to defend budget decisions 'all day long' as farmers slam 'disrespectful' PM

Sir Keir Starmer has said he will defend the decisions made in the budget “all day long” amid anger from farmers over inheritance tax changes.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced last month in her key speech that from April 2026, farms worth more than £1m will face an inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than the standard 40% applied to other land and property.

The announcement has sparked anger among farmers who argue this will mean higher food prices, lower food production and having to sell off land to pay for the tax.

Sir Keir Starmer

Sir Keir defended the budget as he gave his first speech as prime minister at the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales, where farmers have been holding a tractor protest outside.

Sir Keir admitted: “We’ve taken some extremely tough decisions on tax.”

He said: “I will defend facing up to the harsh light of fiscal reality. I will defend the tough decisions that were necessary to stabilise our economy.

“And I will defend protecting the payslips of working people, fixing the foundations of our economy, and investing in the future of Britain and the future of Wales. Finally, turning the page on austerity once and for all.”

He also said the budget allocation for Wales was a “record figure” – some £21bn for next year – an extra £1.7bn through the Barnett Formula, as he hailed a “path of change” with Labour governments in Wales and Westminster.

And he confirmed a £160m investment zone in Wrexham and Flintshire will be going live in 2025.

‘PM should have addressed the protesters’

Among the hundreds of farmers demonstrating was Gareth Wyn Jones, who told Sky News it was “disrespectful” that the prime minister did not mention farmers in his speech.

He said “so many people have come here to air their frustrations. He (Starmer) had an opportunity to address the crowd. Even if he was booed he should have been man enough to come out and talk to the people”.

He said farmers planned to deliver Sir Keir a letter which begins with “‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.

Farmers' tractor protest outside the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales
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Farmers’ tractor protest outside the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales

Mr Wyn Jones told Sky News the government was “destroying” an industry that was already struggling.

“They’re destroying an industry that’s already on its knees and struggling, absolutely struggling, mentally, emotionally and physically. We need government support not more hindrance so we can produce food to feed the nation.”

He said inheritance tax changes will result in farmers increasing the price of food: “The poorer people in society aren’t going to be able to afford good, healthy, nutritious British food, so we have to push this to government for them to understand that enough is enough, the farmers can’t take any more of what they’re throwing at us.”

Mr Wyn Jones disputed the government’s estimation that only 500 farming estates in the UK will be affected by the inheritance tax changes.

“Look, a lot of farmers in this country are in their 70s and 80s, they haven’t handed their farms down because that’s the way it’s always been, they’ve always known there was never going to be inheritance tax.”

On Friday, Sir Keir addressed farmers’ concerns, saying: “I know some farmers are anxious about the inheritance tax rules that we brought in two weeks ago.

“What I would say about that is, once you add the £1m for the farmland to the £1m that is exempt for your spouse, for most couples with a farm wanting to hand on to their children, it’s £3m before anybody pays a penny in inheritance tax.”

Read more:
Ex-Labour adviser suggests doing to farms ‘what Thatcher did to coal mines’
Farmers ‘could block ports and disrupt food supply’

Welsh farmer Gareth Wyn Jones
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Welsh farmer Gareth Wyn Jones

Ministers said the move will not affect small farms and is aimed at targeting wealthy landowners who buy up farmland to avoid paying inheritance tax.

But analysis this week said a typical family farm would have to put 159% of annual profits into paying the new inheritance tax every year for a decade and could have to sell 20% of their land.

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The Country and Land Business Association (CLA), which represents owners of rural land, property and businesses in England and Wales, found a typical 200-acre farm owned by one person with an expected profit of £27,300 would face a £435,000 inheritance tax bill.

The plan says families can spread the inheritance tax payments over 10 years, but the CLA found this would require an average farm to allocate 159% of its profits each year for a decade.

To pay that, successors could be forced to sell 20% of their land, the analysis found.

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Trump policies could take DeFi, BTC staking mainstream: Redstone co-founder

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Trump policies could take DeFi, BTC staking mainstream: Redstone co-founder

Trump’s administration could push DeFi from niche to mainstream, with crypto advocates eyeing potential pro-crypto policy shifts.

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