Greenpeace Activists Disrupt UK PM Lizz Truss's Speech

Greenpeace UK protesters on Wednesday disrupted Prime Minister Liz Truss's set-piece speech to the Conservative party conference, accusing her of backtracking on election promises.

The environmental campaigners said their head of public affairs and policy officer were responsible for holding up a banner during the address, asking "Who voted for this?"

The pair -- Rebecca Newsom and Ami McCarthy -- were ejected from the venue in Birmingham, central England, to cheers and applause from delegates.

Newsom said in a statement afterwards that Truss had put most of the Tories' 2019 election pledges "through the shredder".

"People voted for strong action on climate, a fracking moratorium, world-leading environmental protections and tackling poverty and inequality," she added.

"What they're getting instead is fracking, a potential bonfire of rules on wildlife and nature protection, and now the prospect of benefit cuts."

Truss, who replaced Boris Johnson just a month ago, wants to boost sluggish UK growth and tackle soaring inflation by cutting taxes, spooking the markets and raising fears about government debt.

Her revamped climate policy in particular has enraged environmental bodies concerned about the acceleration of North Sea offshore oil and gas exploration and the end to a moratorium on fracking.

Greenpeace and others have urged the government to slap a windfall tax on energy companies whose profits have been boosted by the rise in wholesale oil and gas prices.

Former Shell employee Truss, who opposes the move, took aim at direct-action protesters and her critics, accusing them of being anti-growth.

"They prefer protesting to doing," she told the conference. "They prefer talking on Twitter to taking tough decisions."

On Tuesday, Home Secretary Suella Braverman, whose brief includes policing, vowed to give officers more powers to crack down on disruptive protests.

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