A millionaire Conservative environmental adviser is facing calls to quit after he said that he stood "with Extinction Rebellion" over its protests at oil refineries.

       Ben Goldsmith, a board member at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, criticised Labour for its call for "injunctions" to stop Extinction Rebellion's disruption, saying it was "not a good look".

       He then added: "The protestors are right to be doing whatever it takes to wake people up. The fossil fuel industry is grubby and dangerous.

       "We need to unhook ourselves from our dependence asap [as soon as possible]. I'm with Extinction Rebellion."

       Mr Goldsmith, a millionaire financier, is also chairman of the Conservative Environment Network, and is the brother of Environment minister Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park.

       The Goldsmiths are close friends of Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, who stayed at a luxury villa in Marbella owned by the Goldsmith family of Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park last October.

       This morning Tory MP members of the Conservative Environment Network reacted with fury to Mr Goldsmith's tweet., with one Tory MP quitting its WhatsApp group.

       One member - a 2019 intake blue wall Tory MP - said: “It’s a disgrace and shows how utterly out-of-touch these privileged idiots are.

       "Boris needs to take on these eco-fascist immediately and he can start by sacking Goldsmith.”

       West Dorset MP Chris Loder said: "Ben Goldsmith is inappropriately interfering in political matters when he is a Defra director. He should either resign and stand for election or be sacked by George Eustice."

       Two hours after the post, Mr Goldsmith deleted it, later clarifying that it had been posted "in a personal capacity".

       He said on Twitter: "Support of ER [Extinction Rebellion] is neither a Conservative Environment Network nor a Defra position. I have therefore retracted these tweets

       "What I said this morning does not reflect CEN's position. I recognise the disruption these protests are causing to people's lives and livelihoods.

       "I've always previously stood publicly opposed to the controversial and often bonkers methods employed by ER.

       "That being said, I know I'm not alone in feeling a rising sense of panic as the reported science grows ever grimmer.

       "Awareness and action are not commensurate with the scale of the issue, even if we in the UK are now leading the way globally."

       This was not good enough for some Conservatives who insisted that Mr Goldsmith had to resign.

       Ipswich MP Tom Hunt told the Telegraph how he had visited "six different petrol stations to finally fill up my car" on Sunday.

       He said: "This has been an experience shared by many of my hardworking constituents and I’m sure they will find Mr Goldsmith’s support for XR deeply troubling as I do.

       "I appreciate he’s since deleted the tweets and apologised; however this only seems to have been due to the backlash the tweets triggered.

       "I can’t imagine any Conservative colleague in Parliament or in the country sharing the extreme views he’s expressed, therefore clearly it does raise serious questions about his position with the Conservative Environment Network. These same questions apply to his role at Defra."

       Former Government minister and Thurrock MP Jackie Doyle-Price added: "We have had upward of 350 arrests here in Thurrock.

       "The ‘protests’ are hazardous as well as disruptive. support for XR is deeply irresponsible. Anyone who endorses this activity has no place in the governance of a Government department."

       Environment secretary George Eustice stood by Mr Goldsmith this lunchtime, with his aides making clear that "while people have a right to protest, the ER protests and the disruption they have caused are unacceptable".