Climate Activists Literally Dragged Out After Disrupting Jeremy Hunt’s Speech At Summit

Jeremy Hunt was heckled repeatedly by climate activists on Tuesday over his party’s environmental commitments. 

The chancellor was speaking at Innovation Zero, a two-day net zero summit held in London – and sponsored by BP, among others.

As soon as the interviewer welcomed Hunt, a climate protester stood on their chair and shouted: “Jeremy!”

She asked him “how can you be here at a Net Zero conference” and asked about Tory donations from Russian oil tycoons, as revealed last year by the Good Law Project.

The protester continued: “Russian oil companies are pumping up our energy bills and pushing us towards catastrophe, while instead of fighting for a liveable future.”

While the chancellor appeared to stay silent, the interviewer who was on stage with Hunt politely cut in: “I’ll give you an opportunity [to speak], if that’s OK?”

The protester continued: “How dare you! Who do you work for? Who do you work for? Stop polluting politics!

“Why are you taking money from oil companies?”

Hunt also took £25,000 from a climate change sceptic’s company when he was running to be Tory leader, as OpenDemocracy discovered in 2019.

The protester continued shouting about the climate crisis even as security guards picked her up by the limbs and carried her out of the conference. 

“I would urge you if you have questions you would like to put to the chancellor, I’m here! I’ll ask them!” the interviewer reminded the audience.

The protester was one of around 20 activists working to disrupt the conference today, hidden among the crowd with banners. 

The group which claims to be behind the disruption, Stop Polluting Politics, says it aims to get the “fossil fuel lobby out of Westminster and to stop polluters from bankrolling political parties”.

 Energy secretary Claire Coutinho was also heckled after taking £2,000 from a climate denier and for overseeing the approval of the Rosebank oil field.

Former trade secretary Liam Fox faced down his own protesters at the summit as well, because he once accepted £10,000 from a climate denier.

The activists called him out for lobbying for Bahraini oil contracts for Petrofrac too.

Stop Polluting Politics’ spokesperson, Sam Simons, said: “Big oil companies are hijacking our politics in a desperate bid to protect their profits and slow down action on climate change.

“That’s why we challenged Jeremy Hunt, Claire Coutinho and Liam Fox, who’ve between them taken thousands of pounds from climate deniers while approving the climate-wrecking Rosebank oil field. We demand to know who’s side they’re on. Do they work for us, or for them?”