When Greenpeace activists draped Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s baronial country house in black fabric last month to protest his energy policies, public reaction focused on the troubling lapse in security.
But on another level, the stunt showed that Mr. Sunak’s brand of hard-edge politics was hitting home in Britain.
Greenpeace said it was outraged by the government’s decision to issue new licenses for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea — part of a broader retreat on climate policy that is edging Britain away from its ambitious commitments to phase out fossil fuels.
Mr. Sunak, who was out of the country at the time, won sympathy from many who said the tactics of the activists had gotten out of control.
Climate policy is one of several fronts where Britain’s beleaguered Conservative government is drawing sharp lines on emotive issues, hoping to set itself apart from the opposition Labour Party, which, after years of Tory scandals and economic setbacks, has built a double-digit lead in polls and now increasingly behaves like a government in waiting.
Persons:
Rishi, Sunak
Organizations:
Greenpeace, Conservative, Labour Party
Locations:
Britain