Ben Goldsmith is the chair of the JMG Foundation, which is the Goldsmith family's philanthropic foundation that focuses on the environment. He is the brother of foreign office minister Lord Goldsmith.
"This morning I tweeted in a personal capacity my sympathies for the Extinction Rebellion protests. Support of ER is neither a Conservative Environmental Network nor a DEFRA position. I have therefore retracted these tweets," he said.
Chris Loder, MP for West Dorset, accused Mr Goldsmith of"inappropriately interfering in political matters", adding"he should either resign and stand for election or be sacked by [Environment Secretary] George Eustice." City of London Police said it is"aware of groups of protesters at Liverpool Street Station and the Lloyd's building on Lime Street" and that officers have arrived on the scene.
Responding to Mr Goldsmith's tweet, a government source said:"Ben expressed a personal view - not that of the Government. People have the right to protest, and the issue of climate change is very important - that's why we're taking such ambitious action to tackle it."
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