Liz Truss speech 2022: Ex-Peterborough council leader speaks out after grabbing flag and stopping Greenpeace protest

The former mayor of Peterborough who grabbed a flag from the hands of two Greenpeace protestors has said he ‘couldn’t believe what was happening’ when the banner was unfurled.

Greenpeace said the protest was about policies including fracking and changes to nature protection – but their protest was brought to an end when John Peach – who is also a former leader of Peterborough City Council – ‘yanked’ the flag out of their hands.

"I don’t know how they got the flag in"

Speaking to The Peterborough Telegraph, Mr Peach said: “You have to get in and seated quite early for the speech. I was sitting chatting to people sitting around me. There were two women there who were quite inconspicuous. No-one too any notice of them.

"Then I saw them get up and put a flag up. I couldn’t believe what was happening. They were only a couple of seats away from me, so I got up, grabbed the flag off them and threw it to the floor.

"They then put the second flag up up. I tried yanking that one off them as well, but they were holding that one more tightly than the first.

"I don’t know how they got the flag in. To get in to the conference, you need to be a Conservative party member for three months, pay for access, and security is very big here. You have to go through an X-ray machine to get in.”

Mr Peach said he did not hear what the two protestors were shouting as they unfurled their flags – which had ‘Who voted for this’ and the Greenpeace logo printed on them – but said he was aware the fracking issue had been controversial.

“On fracking, if the community involved is happy for it to go ahead, and they are given cheaper or even free energy bills to compensate for the disruption and noise, I think communities will accept it.”

Why Greenpeace held protest

Speaking about their protestors Rebecca Newsom, Greenpeace UK’s head of public affairs – who was one of the two people holding the flag, said: “Who voted for this? 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."