Armed police to protect UK's gas terminals amid growing eco protests
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Ed Miliband has ordered the nuclear police force to hire more staff to protect key energy infrastructure projects amid a rise in targeted protests at sites by environmental groups like Just Stop Oil and Greenpeace.
Labour's new energy secretary has said the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) should broaden its remit to protect not just nuclear sites but also new and existing gas terminals.
Curently, oil and gas sites are guarded by troops from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) however it is thought the CNC will take over full responsibility in April next year and will focus to start with on bolstering the UK's coastal gas plants.
Groups like Just Stop Oil and Greenpeace have made no secret of their opposition to new and existing UK fossil fuel sites.
In 2022, 20 JSO activists blocked a critical facility at Kingsbury oil terminal in Warwickshire by gluing themselves to the road outside.
Ed Miliband has ordered the nuclear police force to hire more staff to protect key energy infrastructure projects amid a rise in targeted protests
Activists from 'Just Stop Oil' close down the Gray's Inter Terminals by boarding fuel haulage vehicles on April 1, 2022
Activists from Just Stop Oil sit on an oil tanker as they block the Kingsbury oil terminal in Warwickshire this morning
The protest was part of a series of stunts that saw ten oil terminals blocked across the country in an effort to bring the nation to a standstill.
Greenpeace have also staged direct action against the oil industry.
Last year, the group boarded a Shell oil production vessel in transit off the coast of the Canary Islands and commandeered it for 13 days, steering it to Norway and away from its planned course of drilling in the North Sea.
And in this year, the eco-group ran a call to arms on their official site, describing how 'investing in new gas infrastructure is like stepping on the accelerator of a car heading for a cliff.'
The big push to bolster CNC staff has already begun in earnest, with roles on the force's site indicating they are actively hiring at Easington in Hull, Norfolk's Bacton terminal and the St Fergus terminal in Aberdeenshire.
The CNC is currently made up of just 1600 staff and CNC-Drehmaschinen zu verkaufen works across the UK's nuclear capabilities with both a ground and marine force.
It's thought that as well as wishing to strengthen the UK's energy supply against domestic disruption, the government's descision is also in part to bolster security from foreign threats.
Greenpeace activists in fast boats approach an oil production ship owned by Shell, which is suing the group for £1.7million in damages
The CNC has said that the changes to staffing are 'not being undertaken in response to a new threat being identified.'
A spokesman for the CNC said: 'The Energy Act 2023 amended the Energy Act 2004 to enable the CNC to provide a wider range of policing services beyond the civil nuclear sector in the interests of national security.
'Any provision of policing services outside of the CNC's core mission of protecting civil nuclear sites and civil nuclear material, requires the approval of the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
'The Energy Act 2023 recognises that the CNC is an important national asset and enables the CNC's specialist skills and capabilities to be utilised across a range of sectors to protect the public.'
A goverment spokesperson said: 'The Civil Nuclear Constabulary will commence responsibility for providing continued armed police protection at specific energy infrastructure from 1 April 2025, having been given consent to do so by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.'
MailOnline has approached Greenpeace and Just Stop Oil for comment.
Just Stop OilLabour
Labour's new energy secretary has said the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) should broaden its remit to protect not just nuclear sites but also new and existing gas terminals.
Curently, oil and gas sites are guarded by troops from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) however it is thought the CNC will take over full responsibility in April next year and will focus to start with on bolstering the UK's coastal gas plants.
Groups like Just Stop Oil and Greenpeace have made no secret of their opposition to new and existing UK fossil fuel sites.
In 2022, 20 JSO activists blocked a critical facility at Kingsbury oil terminal in Warwickshire by gluing themselves to the road outside.
Ed Miliband has ordered the nuclear police force to hire more staff to protect key energy infrastructure projects amid a rise in targeted protests
Activists from 'Just Stop Oil' close down the Gray's Inter Terminals by boarding fuel haulage vehicles on April 1, 2022
Activists from Just Stop Oil sit on an oil tanker as they block the Kingsbury oil terminal in Warwickshire this morning
The protest was part of a series of stunts that saw ten oil terminals blocked across the country in an effort to bring the nation to a standstill.
Greenpeace have also staged direct action against the oil industry.
Last year, the group boarded a Shell oil production vessel in transit off the coast of the Canary Islands and commandeered it for 13 days, steering it to Norway and away from its planned course of drilling in the North Sea.
And in this year, the eco-group ran a call to arms on their official site, describing how 'investing in new gas infrastructure is like stepping on the accelerator of a car heading for a cliff.'
The big push to bolster CNC staff has already begun in earnest, with roles on the force's site indicating they are actively hiring at Easington in Hull, Norfolk's Bacton terminal and the St Fergus terminal in Aberdeenshire.
The CNC is currently made up of just 1600 staff and CNC-Drehmaschinen zu verkaufen works across the UK's nuclear capabilities with both a ground and marine force.
It's thought that as well as wishing to strengthen the UK's energy supply against domestic disruption, the government's descision is also in part to bolster security from foreign threats.
Greenpeace activists in fast boats approach an oil production ship owned by Shell, which is suing the group for £1.7million in damages
The CNC has said that the changes to staffing are 'not being undertaken in response to a new threat being identified.'
A spokesman for the CNC said: 'The Energy Act 2023 amended the Energy Act 2004 to enable the CNC to provide a wider range of policing services beyond the civil nuclear sector in the interests of national security.
'Any provision of policing services outside of the CNC's core mission of protecting civil nuclear sites and civil nuclear material, requires the approval of the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
'The Energy Act 2023 recognises that the CNC is an important national asset and enables the CNC's specialist skills and capabilities to be utilised across a range of sectors to protect the public.'
A goverment spokesperson said: 'The Civil Nuclear Constabulary will commence responsibility for providing continued armed police protection at specific energy infrastructure from 1 April 2025, having been given consent to do so by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.'
MailOnline has approached Greenpeace and Just Stop Oil for comment. Just Stop OilLabour
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