Extinction Rebellion activists arrested after using fire engine to spray Treasury with 1,800 litres of fake blood

Protest comes after MPs accuse government of ‘utter hypocrisy’ of spending billions on overseas fossil fuel projects while claiming to lead global climate efforts

At least eight Extinction Rebellion activists have been arrested after using an old fire engine to hose 1,800 litres of fake blood over the front of the Treasury building in Westminster.

Protesters also erected a banner which read: “Stop funding climate death”.

The protest comes as the government is accused of “utter hypocrisy” after rejecting calls from MPs to stop spending billions on overseas fossil fuel projects while claiming to be a leader in the fight against the climate crisis.

A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion said: “It is time to imagine a future where humans no longer cause irreparable harm to themselves and their surroundings, but recognise and support the interconnectedness of life in its broadest sense.”

While hosing the front of the building with water containing washable food dye, the group experienced a problem with the hose, which left the majority of the “blood” on the ground in front of the building.

Police later arrived to guard the building.

Extinction Rebellion demonstrator Cathy Eastburn said: “I’m terrified. As things stand my children do not have a future, and that goes for all children alive today. Around the world people are already losing their lives and homes because of climate breakdown – floods, droughts, food shortages, more frequent extreme weather events, and so on.

“Last September the secretary general of the UN said we have two years to take serious action in order to avert complete catastrophe and possible extinction. Decisions being made here in the Treasury right now – including huge subsidies for fossil fuels, financing massive fossil fuels projects overseas, airport expansion – have devastating consequences and are incompatible with a liveable future for my children and all children everywhere.”

The group said the action was part of a build-up towards mass demonstrations which begin in four days’ time in more than 60 cities around the world.

This week MPs warned the government Britain is sabotaging its climate credentials by paying out “unacceptably high” oil and gas subsidies in developing nations.

But international trade secretary Liz Truss shunned the Environmental Audit Committee’s recommendation that investment in fossil fuel projects abroad should end by 2021, saying the move would be “too abrupt”.

A report published by the cross-party group in June found UK Export Finance – a government body that underwrites loans and insurance to help British firms secure business abroad – had spent £2.6bn in the past five years supporting global energy exports. Of this, £2.5bn went on fossil fuel projects, with the vast majority in low- and middle-income countries.

The Environment Audit Committee said the funding was “the elephant in the room undermining the UK’s international climate and development targets”.

MPs also warned the projects risked locking developing nations into fossil-fuel dependency “for decades to come”.

A Treasury spokesperson told The Independent: “The UK is a world leader on climate change – having reduced its emissions by 42 per cent between 1990 and 2017, while growing the economy by more than two thirds.

“In June, we became the first major economy to legislate to end our contribution to global warming by 2050. We will continue to build on this proud record.”