Conservative MPs are calling for the financier Ben Goldsmith to be sacked from his role at the Environment Department after he expressed support for the activist group Extinction Rebellion.
Mr Goldsmith – who has been a non-executive board member at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs since 2018 – posted a tweet earlier this morning criticising Labour’s call for injunctions against ‘Just Stop Oil’ (JSO) protests, which have caused chaos at petrol stations.
“Not a good look from Labour,” he said. “The protesters 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. I’m with Extinction Rebellion.”
Hundreds of people have been detained since the JSO and affiliated activists began their action on 1 April – with more than 350 arrested at Grays in Essex alone, amid police complaints of “exceptionally dangerous” tactics by activists.
Steve Reed, Labour’s shadow justice secretary, said: “This from a Conservative official is an insult to people facing misery trying to get to work.
“While the government continues to refuse to act, Labour has called for immediate injunctions to put a stop to this disruption.”
Mr Goldsmith’s tweet has now been deleted, and he posted a new statement retracting his previous comments.
“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.
“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 Extinction Rebellion.”
It follows an outcry amongst some Tory MPs in response to his original post.
Chris…
Source : skynews
