CLIMATE activists from Extinction Rebellion staged a "bed-in" outside the Scottish Parliament taking aim at a private meeting between MSPs and British Petroleum (BP) lobbyists.

The display also saw an activist pour "oil" into the pond outside Holyrood.

The "bed-in" saw two activists dressed as an MSP and a BP oil executive lay in a bed on the pavement outside the main entrance to protest the relationship between the company and decision-makers.

Behind them, a black banner said, "BP: Bought Politicians". 

The National:

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Activists also poured fake, non-toxic oil into the pond outside the building, turning it black which they said was to highlight BP's investment in the Trans Mountain Pipeline project in Canada.

The pipeline is expected to triple the capacity of the existing system to 890,000 barrels of oil per day with risks to the Salish Sea on Canada's west coast and to the marine animals and First Nations people who rely on it.

An activist who identified himself as John from Edinburgh said: "Less than a month after COP26, where governments once again put fossil fuel interests over the needs of people and planet, BP are being welcomed into the heart of our parliament to talk about their plans to expand production and their ambition to reach net zero. But ambitions are not binding targets.

"Until they accept the severity of climate breakdown and set out clear actions to reduce fossil fuel production, everything they say is just greenwashing. BP are not part of the solution, they are part of the problem. The politicans may give them a warm welcome, but we will not."

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Another who identified himself as Justin said: "It is an insult to the First Nations peoples and to the people of Scotland, for BP to be invited to our Parliament and given a platform to spout the Net Zero by 2050 nonsense, the excuse for not cutting emissions now. Especially when they are involved in a project that blows any chances of meeting 1.5 degrees and that threatens the waters, lands and human rights of First Nations."

"Our elected representatives should be showing solidarity with the people most impacted by fossil fuel companies, not with the climate criminals who continue to value profit over human rights."