London/Brussels/ — Dame Vivienne Westwood and her son Joe Corré brought a vision of Armageddon today to No 10 on UN World Environment Day in a protest over pollution from fracking, and the government’s hypocrisy over plastics.

Backed by research materials from Food & Water Watch and Food & Water Europe on the corporate profile and bad environmental record of secretive petrochemical company Ineos, they’ve delivered ‘Planet INEOS”, a representation of the harms caused by plastic pollution and climate change.

Petrochemical giant INEOS is Britain’s biggest private company, owned by UK’s richest man, controversial billionaire and fracking profiteer Jim Ratcliffe. Ineos owns more fracking licenses than any other energy company in the UK and already uses fracked gas from the United States to manufacture plastics.

The campaigners say that despite the government’s recently announced War on Plastic, its industrial policy gives plastic production a higher priority than energy.

Corré, who is head of Talk Fracking, says: “It’s impossible to reconcile the Government’s War on Plastic with its policy on fracking when they’re clearly enabling the creation of yet more problem plastic. It’s sheer hypocrisy. If INEOS get their way and fulfil their ambition to frack the length and breadth of the UK, they will be making a vast contribution to the already growing pile of cheap plastics in the world today.”

INEOS have a horrendous environmental track record in Europe and have been responsible for toxic chemicals, leaks, fires and explosions that have endangered workers, communities and the environment.

“Now they plan to bring those dangers to hundreds of communities across the UK, just to make more plastics that we don’t want,” Corré added.

Food & Water Watch and Food & Water Watch Europe Executive Director Wenonah Hauter, said: “INEOS’s fracking dreams are a nightmare for communities on both sides of the Atlantic, and that’s why so many people are speaking up to stop them. Anyone who cares about the climate crisis, the increasing burden of global plastics pollution, and the air and water pollution associated with petrochemical manufacturing should get active in the fight to stop INEOS from fracking the UK.”