Activists to dress up as bosses of Shell, BP, Gazprom in protest against energy bills rise

Demonstrators are planning to dress up as the bosses of Shell, BP and Gazprom this weekend in protest against the energy price cap rise.

Extinction Rebellion’s ‘fossil fools’ demonstration, scheduled to take place in Edinburgh, will also feature campaigners dressed in rags, with chains round their necks.

They will be carrying placards reading ‘Can’t Heat and Eat’ and ‘In Fuel Poverty’ in a bid to highlight the rise in energy bills.

On reaching the UK Government buildings, the demonstration will be met by a parody of the Prime Minister.

‘Liz Truss’ will hand the fake oil bosses a ‘licence to drill’, before they cover protestors in ‘oil’.

© Supplied by PA

The march will take place on Saturday to coincide with the day the UK’s energy price cap rises to £2,500 a year.

It was on course to be about £1,000 higher than that, but the UK Government recently intervened to mitigate the increase.

Activists are also taking umbrage with Ms Truss’ recent decision to forge ahead with a new offshore licensing round.

Due to launch next month, it is expected to yield more than 100 permits, giving companies the green light to seek out more oil and gas reserves.

© Supplied by Just Stop Oil

While the move is designed to reduce the UK’s exposure to foreign hydrocarbon supplies, NGOs have flagged the environmental impact of the move, as well as the time it takes for new fields to start producing.

Mike Grant, 62, a retired Army officer from Rosewell, said: “The climate crisis hit the UK with a vengeance this summer.  The science has been clear for years but now we are seeing what that means in reality. And we have a war in Europe underpinned by oil and gas and a cost-of-living crisis that threatens to drive millions into poverty.  At a time when wind is nine times cheaper than gas, our government-enabled addiction to fossil fuel has to end forever.”

Extinction Rebellion’s Red Rebels will also be present at the march, which will move on to the Scottish Parliament at the bottom of the Royal Mile.

A public event looking at actions people can take to address “multiple crises” is also scheduled to take place.

Simon Clark, 62, an architect in Edinburgh’s West End, said:“The fossil fuel industry has openly enslaved our society, allowing it to create havoc in the environment whilst making record profits with complete impunity. Our elected representatives have enabled this catastrophic state of affairs and failed to curb the industry’s obscene excesses. We need to acknowledge the single driving force behind this perfect storm of cost-of-living crisis, climate crisis and Putin’s war – fossil fuels.”