The foreign minister responded by saying she would ban such protests if she were appointed prime minister
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, one of the last two candidates to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, was cut off during a speech by climate campaigners who claimed she had “no credible plan” to cope with rising fuel prices.
As Truss made his opening remarks at a Conservative Party campaign event in Eastbourne on Thursday, several campaigners rose from their seats shouting “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“The reason ordinary people are struggling is because energy companies like BP and Shell are making record profits, while ordinary people are having to tighten their belts,” he added. said one protester.
As the first activist was led away by security, another stood up and accused Truss of having “no credible plan to tackle the biggest problems of our time.”
“What you’ve announced won’t come close to helping people with energy bills over £3,000 a year.”
BREAKING: Tonight we faced @trussliz during the Tory leadership raids over his shameful role in the cost of living crisis. Millions will face huge energy bills this winter, while his government backs climate saboteurs like BP and Shell who are earning BILLIONS. Green New Deal now ✊ pic.twitter.com/mP4ufEbQtU
— The Rise of the Green New Deal (@GNDRising) August 5, 2022
Fuel costs in the UK have reached record highs, with inflation expected to reach 11% by the end of this year. While costs have tended to rise since the end of the coronavirus pandemic, fuel prices in particular have soared in the months after the UK voluntarily cut itself off from Russian oil and gas imports in response to Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.
Annual household bills are expected to top £3,300 ($3,971) this winter, according to energy consultant Cornwall Insight. Truss pledged to fight the rise with a combination of tax cuts and cuts in environmental levies, but warned the public on Friday that the UK faces “a difficult winter”
Campaigners, however, are calling for a “Green New Deal”, a bill that would see the UK commit to “Make fossil fuel extraction a thing of the past” and “decarbonize” its agriculture, industry and economy. Critics have argued that these measures will lead to higher energy costs at best and widespread poverty and starvation at worst.
Truss resumed his speech with a promise to “legislate immediately to ensure we stand up to militant unions, who are preventing commuters from getting to work” and make sure “that militant activists such as Extinction Rebellion are unable to disrupt ordinary hard-working people”, referring to climate protesters notorious for disrupting traffic and sticking to trains.
“I will never, ever allow our democracy to be disrupted by unjust protests,” Truss said.
Truss is currently running against former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to succeed Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Truss, a supporter of Thatcher-style spending cuts at home and tough opposition to Russia abroad, is currently 26 points ahead of Sunak, according to a compilation of Politico polls.
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