Nick Ferrari takes on Extinction Rebellion for digging up garden outside Home Office

Police have arrested seven people after Extinction Rebellion protesters dug up the lawn outside the Home Office.

The climate change activism group were protesting against the UK's continued reliance on coal power stations and the expansion of a coal mine in the North of England.

They are urging housing minister Robert Jenrick to reject approval for the expansion of the Bradley Opencast Mine.

Extinction Rebellion explained the protest by saying: "The local community have tried everything to stop this mine. Over 3,000 people in Pont Valley logged planning objections to the mine, 55,000 petitioners demanded its rejection and Durham County Council rejected planning permission no less than three times before being overruled by the Planning Inspectorate, who serve the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

"Since then, Durham County Council have declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency."

Nick spoke to spokesperson Donnachadh McCarthy to ask why these chose this particular action and things got quite testy.

They touched on Nick's Enough Is Enough campaign, in which he is urging greater powers for police to stop protests which cause serious public disorder.

But Mr McCarthy insisted that protests down the years have always involved non-violent direct action.

Watch their full debate at the top of the page.