Climate Resistance launched their “stop polluting politics” campaign yesterday by waving an oil-pigment saturated banner from Westminster bridge, and polluting the air with flares. The irony.

The group, who may have as many as a dozen supporters, hope to ban oil and gas companies from meeting politicians, the aim is to make the energy companies that power industry and our lives political pariahs. Energy policy is critically important, it literally keeps the lights on.

The group has a host of other left-wing poses such as waving Palestinian flags. Nothing screams opposition to the malign influence of oil on politics like promoting an Iran-backed regime whose leadership live in luxury hotels in Qatar. The group tweets climate doom and on “the influence of dark money on politics”. Who are these slick new paragons of transparency in public life? We don’t know. Their website says neither who they are, nor who funds them.

Which may be wise given they have otherwise libellously and untruthfully stated that “Shell, BP, Equinor and others are donating to parties… to push their agenda”. A junk claim easily checked on the public electoral commission donations website. The net donations from all three to politicians or political parties is £0.