‘Let’s get them removed’: Liz Truss speech heckled by climate protesters

Liz Truss’s first speech to her party conference as prime ministerwas interrupted as she was heckled by climate protesters.

Ms Truss described the Greenpeace activitists as part of “the anti-growth coalition”.

Protesters stopped the speech briefly as they shouted at the Tory leader and held up a flag which read "who voted for this?"

After Ms Truss called for them to be ejected they were led out of the conference hall by security.

One of the campaigners, dressed in a blue jacket, was seen smiling as she was escorted out of the room.

The flag also contained the Greenpeace logo.

Greenpeace said in a post on Twitter that activists had interrupted the speech to denounce the prime minister for “shredding” her party’s 2019 manifesto promises.

“The PM is U-turning on fracking, strong climate action, and world-leading environmental protections. Who voted for this?”, it added.

Rebecca Newsom, Greenpeace UK’s head of public affairs, said: “In a healthy democracy, people should get the government programme they voted for, but Liz Truss is putting most of it through the shredder.

“People voted for strong action on climate, a fracking moratorium, world-leading environmental protections, and tackling poverty and inequality. What they’re getting instead is fracking, a potential bonfire of rules on wildlife and nature protection, and now the prospect of benefit cuts.

“Broken promise after broken promise, the prime minister is quickly turning her party’s manifesto into the longest piece of false advertising ever written. Many will be left wondering whether her government answers to the public or to the hedge fund managers, right-wing think tanks and fossil fuel giants that are cheering it on.

“The Chancellor said the government is now listening. If so, they may want to pay attention to the widening chorus of leading businesses, energy experts, former Conservative ministers and even the US President telling them to go in the opposite direction.”

The protestors thrown out of the hall were later named as Ami McCarthy and Rebecca Newsom, who both work in public affairs for Greenpeace.

They said they were “holding the Government to account” for its promises on net zero.

After the interruption there were shouts of “”go on Liz!” in the hall and loud applause as she resumed her speech. She later accused them of preferring “talking to doing”.

She later received a standing ovation as she said that Ukraine would win the war with Russia.