Greenpeace banned from Whitehall talks after speaking at Rishi Sunak's home

Greenpeace activists covered Rishi Sunak's house with black cloth. with Greenpeace as tensions with the charity escalated after activists staged a protest at Rishi Sunak's home.

A spokesman for the prime minister said the pressure group should not be given a «seat at the table» in discussions in Whitehall after last week's trick.

The environment minister has already demanded that her staff cut ties with the organization in light of the Aug. 3 incident. Activists climbed onto the roof of Mr Sunak's estate in North Yorkshire and threw an oily black cloth over him to protest his plan to issue new drilling licenses in the North Sea.

Five people have been arrested and have since released on bail while police investigate.

It is understood that the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero have already received strict orders from Secretary of State Grant Shapps not to meet with Greenpeace.

were arrested after activists climbed onto a rooftop to protest new oil contracts in the North Sea. Photo: EyePress News/Shutterstock engagement.

It is likely that Defra led much of the past contact with Greenpeace, although the Foreign Office has negotiated with the charity in the past.

In 2013, Lord Haig, then Foreign Secretary, spoke to the group's leaders after Russia detained six British citizens for taking part in a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic.

Sunak's spokesman said on Monday : «Of course, we obviously do not think that the accused violations of the law should take place at the negotiating table with the government.

«It is my understanding that Defra is not interacting with Greenpeace because of these actions.

“But obviously given their actions and arrests last week, we don’t we think it's appropriate to engage with them.»

Defended the protest

The Telegraph understands the environment minister had no scheduled meetings with Greenpeace when she demanded her staff cut contact on Friday.

However, government transparency data shows that the two Defra ministers have been in talks with the charity since the summer of 2022. Officials are also known to have met with the organization from time to time.

Ariba Hameed, co-executive director of Greenpeace, defended the protest, telling Sky News that it was a «proportionate response to the disastrous decision» of Mr Sunak allow further drilling in the North Sea.

Assistant Chief Constable Elliot Foskett said: «There was no threat to the general public during this incident, which has now been brought to a safe conclusion.»

But Peter Walker, a former deputy police chief, told LBC it was a «serious breach of security» as he called for «an investigation into how this could have happened.»

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: «Everything five suspects arrested after a protest in Kirby-Sigston on August 3 have been released. on conditional police bail for further investigations.”