Climate vandals run up £15k bill
A STUNT by climate change activists to spray fake blood over the Treasury has cost £15,000 to clean up, with the cost set to rise.
Protests by Extinction Rebellion during their two weeks of campaigning in London saw demonstrators drive close to the building in Westminster in a fire engine and spray food dye.
But they lost control of the hose and liquid drenched them, the road and the steps of the Grade Ii-listed offices.
“Stop funding climate death” was also sprayed on the walls.
The Treasury said after a Freedom of Information request: “We do not hold the final costs of the clean-up operation. However, at this stage of the process, the costs to date are £14,895.”
Thirty police arrested protesters and removed the fire engine. Four people are on bail on suspicion of criminal damage.
The clean-up is on top of at least £37million spent policing Extinction Rebellion protests in April and October.
Met Police Commissioner
Cressida Dick said the protests put a “horrendous strain on the force and London Mayor Sadiq Khan said they had wasted police resources and diverted officers from “communities that needed protection.”
The Treasury stunt was branded “dangerous” by Tory MP Penny Mordaunt.
At the time
Extinction
Rebellion stood by the action, saying the Treasury had diverted money into fossil fuel research.
A spokesman said: “Perhaps this government should look at how they spend money.”
A Treasury spokesman said: “The UK is a world leader on climate change, having reduced its emissions by 42 per cent between 1990 and 2017.”