On 25 October, a new group called ‘Matt Ridley’s Conscience’ shut down a coalmine on land belonging to Matt Ridley, a prominent climate change sceptic and Conservative member of the House of Lords. Nine people were arrested.
A group of 12 lay down in front of the main entrance to England’s largest open-cast coal mine, on Ridley’s estate in Northumberland. Four others locked-on to a 500-tonne excavator. The protest went on for eight hours.
At least 8 percent of the coal mined across the UK comes from the site.