Climate activists have painted the entrance to the Scottish Parliament red using a fire extinguisher, water pistols and water balloons filled with red paint. 

The four activists from This is Rigged continued to throw the paint while a staff member began hosing the building down. 

As a result, the Scottish Parliament's public tours have been forced to finish and the building to close early.  

This Is Rigged is demanding that the Scottish Government “vocally oppose all new oil and gas licensing” and create a “clear and fully funded plan for a fair transition for Scotland’s oil workers”.

The protest comes the day after UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to approve more than 100 new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea. 

Read more: National Portrait Gallery: Protesters graffiti King Charles portrait

Over the course of the last two weeks, the climate protesters have blocked petrol tankers from leaving the INEOS oil terminal in Grangemouth for several hours as well as the NuStar terminal in Clydebank, preventing petrol from leaving the depots for hours. Last week members of the group threw paint over a portrait of King Charles at Edinburgh’s Scottish National Portrait Gallery. 

This is Rigged has vowed to “shut down the oil industry” if the Scottish Government does not meet its demands. 

The group claims it has attempted to reach out and arrange a meeting with First Minister Humza Yousaf but that he “has failed to engage with multiple attempts.” 

Activists say they “have tried getting the government’s attention by asking nicely, sending e-mails, marching in the streets, disrupting First Minister’s Questions and have received no appropriate response” and have now “taken their grievances straight to the government’s doors.”

Read more: Climate protesters blockade two sites to ‘shut down Scottish oil’

One of the protesters involved said: “I took action today as a direct response to Rishi Sunak's statement today that he has approved 100 new oil licenses for next year. The IPCC report states clearly that even one new oil license is a death sentence for millions and will actively make our future unlivable. The silence of the Scottish government in light of this makes them complicit. It is time for Scotland to stand up to Westminster and demand climate justice.

A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said: "These protestors have repeatedly targeted the Scottish Parliament and its democratic functions. As a result of their actions today, we have had to cancel our free public tours and close the building earlier than scheduled.
 
“Up to 1,000 people visit Holyrood a day at this time of year, and many will have been severely inconvenienced – not just those who had booked on to tours but other members of the public who wish to visit and engage with their national Parliament.
 
“This is now a matter for Police Scotland.”