Tag Archives: climate change

Rishi Sunak has ‘scrapped’ Net Zero policies that didn’t exist

Rishi Sunak: another UK prime minister who has been caught lying to the public – and not for the first time.

“Nobody voted for Net Zero,” according to one of Rishi Sunak’s Tory cronies on ‘X’:

It’s a lie, of course. Policies to tackle climate change and bring the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions down to nothing were in both the Labour and Conservative manifestos for the 2019 general election, so 75.7 per cent of those who voted – more than 24 million people – voted for Net Zero.

On page 2 of the Tory manifesto, then-prime minister Boris Johnson stated: “I guarantee… reaching Net Zero by 2050 with investment in clean energy solutions and green infrastructure to reduce carbon emissions and pollution.”

The actual policies themselves were as follows:

“We will invest in nature, helping us to reach our Net Zero target with a Ā£640 million new Nature for Climate fund. Building on our support for creating a Great Northumberland Forest, we will reach an additional 75,000 acres of trees a year by the end of the next Parliament, as well as restoring our peatland” (page 45 – marked as page 43).

“Oil and gas sector deal: The oil and gas industry employs almost 300,000 people, of whom four in 10 work in Scotland. We believe that the North Sea oil and gas industry has a long future ahead and know the sector has a key role to play as we move to a Net Zero economy. We will support this transition in the next Parliament with a transformational sector deal” (page 48 – not marked but would have been marked as page 46).

“We will lead the global fight against climate change by delivering on our world-leading target of Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as advised by the independent Committee on Climate Change. We have doubled International Climate Finance. And we will use our position hosting the UN Climate Change Summit in Glasgow in 2020 to ask our global partners to match our ambition” (page 57 – marked as page 55).

That’s the lot – four wishy-washy promises that don’t actually mean a lot.

So, now Rishy (-washy?) Sunak has announced that he is halting a series of Net Zero policies, he is rightly being pilloried for ending things that didn’t exist in the first place.

Check out the context note on Sunak’s own ‘X’ post about his changes:

Depending on which version of the above you see, it may refer to the Tory government’s own Net Zero strategy, that was published in 2021, nearly two years after the general election, comes to 368 pages, and doesn’t mention any of the measures Sunak reckons he’s scrapping.

Alternatively, it may point out that “Taxes on meat and flying had already been repeatedly ruled out by the Government. There is no proposal to require people to have seven bins, or for ‘compulsory’ car sharing. The announced changes on insulation only stand to benefit private landlords.”

The BBC’s Nick Robinson – himself a Conservative, let’s remember – absolutely hammered Sunak as a liar in an interview on the BBC’sĀ Today programme:

Sunak’s parting shot, about being “honest” about the way to get to Net Zero, rings hollow in the context of what had gone before.

So let us be clear: the ConservativesĀ did have a series of policies for the UK to reach Net Zero and the electorateĀ did vote for them – but none of those policies were part of the package that he scrapped yesterday (September 20, 2023).

Coupled to all this is a ridiculous claim – exemplified in the words of Priti Patel, below – that the government does not dictate whether UK citizens support polluters or not:

Look at your energy bill. In return for the payments you make, you receive energy that comes from a number of different sources, including some that are highly polluting. For example: coal, nuclear, gas.

On a separate but related subject, look at the amount of plastic packaging you buy in your everyday grocery shopping, much of which is unnecessary and can end up polluting the environment.

These things happen because the government allows it. Indeed, among Sunak’s measures yesterday was a plan to continue allowing the sale of polluting petrol- and diesel-powered cars for an extra five years, until 2035. Who knows what some future prime minister will do then? Extend it to 2040?


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Who’s paying Rishi Sunak to delay Net Zero policies?

This is fine: Rishi Sunak will burn down not only your house but your country and planet if he thinks he can get something out of it.

Rishi Sunak has hastily announced delays to headline Tory ‘Net Zero’ policies in what’s being called an attempt to create dividing lines between his government and opposition parties.

That indicates two things to This Writer, immediately:

Firstly, he has realised that Keir Starmer’s Labour really is a Substitute Tory Party now – and is afraid that, untarnished by 13 years of disastrous policies that have failed the people of the UK, that STP will seize power and start taking money from the donors who have been paying him.

Secondly, creating dividing lines between his govenrment and other parties is a pathetically weak excuse for scrapping policies designed to save us from climate meltdown. Is there an ulterior motive – connected with cash from fossil fuel or automotive firms?

The rationalisations simply don’t ring true. According to the BBC:

The government could not impose “unacceptable costs” linked to reducing emissions on British families, he said.

But what is the direct cost to the public of banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030? Why are electric vehicles assumed to be more expensive?

It’s not as if the national grid won’t be able to take the strain; we already have an assurance that it will:

Why is fossil fuel heating for off-gas-grid homes being extended by nine years, to 2035? Who complained – families who will have been planning to change their systems, or fossil fuel firms?

Why do poorer households require an exemption from the ban on the sale of new gas boilers in 2035? Won’t they just get something else and stretch out the payments to make them affordable as necessary? Isn’t that how such changes have always been managed in the past?

And why are landlords being let off a requirement to ensure all rental properties have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of grade C or higher, from 2025? That’s not helping poor people but rich landlords!

Raising the Boiler Upgrade Grant by 50 per cent to Ā£7,500 to help households who want to replace their gas boilers appears to be the only sensible idea in the package.

Put it all together and the winners are the car companies, the fossil fuel firms and landlords – not the poor. Even if these corporate and business concerns aren’t actually handing over money to the Tories, one has to question what pressure they have exerted here.

Sunak himself went on the record to say democratic debate is required. But who did he ask to contribute to that debate before coming up with these decisions that will profit the polluters?

Remember: converting to renewable energy will be cheaper for the consumer. As Ash Sarkar points out in the clip immediately below (in spite of Andrea Jenkyns and her ignorance), fossil fuel supplies from abroad are subject to price shocks; home-produced energy won’t be:

The changes announced now – with more said to be on the way later in the autumn – mean uncertainty, not only for the public but for industry as well. Jamie Driscoll makes an excellent point about that:

Among the future announcements is said to be a refusal to tax air fares in order to discourage flying. Here’s why that is bad:

Still, what can you expect from an “ivory tower” Tory like Sunak who flies to the vast majority of his foreign engagement in a private jet that isĀ 14 times more polluting than normal flights?

What’s really interesting is the implication that Sunak was pushed into delaying the ban on the sale of fossil fuel vehicles by Liz Truss – and the possibility that his fellow Tories are upset about it and may try to oust him because of it:

The headline on this article suggests that Sunak might be taking money somehow, in order to induce him to make these changes. The suggestion that his own MPs may try to push him out of Downing Street because of it makes this seem more likely.

I would sincerely like to be mistaken, for an obvious reason:

A bit of extra cash for one avaricious toad of a man is no justification for condemning a population to climate change hell.


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The news in tweets: Sunday, July 16, 2023

Clement Attlee innovated. Keir Starmer will privatise

That was one politician’s response to Keir Starmer’s interview inĀ The Observer today (Sunday, July 16, 2023).

In it, Starmer contradicts himself by saying he won’t promise to spend any more money but will prioritise economic growth and wealth creation; these cannot be achieved without investment – and indeed, investment is mentioned later in the article.

He also says he intends to impose “radical reform of public services” – by which we may infer that he means more privatisation, despite the fact that the state of the privatised water and energy firms shows it is a disaster for service provision.

We can see evidence that he supports privatisation in an interview with Starmer’s political idol, Tony Blair, on Sophy Ridge’sĀ Sky News show this morning:

The correct response to that is to point out that public sector innovation should come from the people in charge – who are politicians. Blair was in charge of the public sector between 1997 and 2007; if he didn’t bother to innovate, preferring instead to dick around with PFI and “Third Way” nonsense, that was his mistake.

And it will be what loses Starmer his election, if he follows the same road at a time when we can all understand perfectly well that we are being ripped off by the water and energy firms.

The social media responses have gone directly to the point:

Labour won’t lift the two-child limit on child benefit, says Starmer

After Independent candidate wins council by-election, call goes out to support Independents in this week’s Parliamentary polls

Expect to see more support for Independent candidates as the week progresses.

As the UK braces for more pollution-induced soaring temperatures, here comes a Bill to stop politicians benefiting from oil and gas profits

You can bet this won’t get anywhere, as the suits on both sides of the House of Commons link up and climb aboard the Gravy Train.

And finally: bathing water is pronounced ‘best quality ever’ – but is Therese Coffee lying to you (again)?

And that is whyĀ this happens:


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Economist explains why Truss’s early choices have all been bad

Liz Truss: bad choices already mean we have another rotten prime minister.

This Site has a lot of time for Richard Murphy. As an economist, he seems to be on the side of the people, rather than selfish commercial interests, and he also seems to know the right way to run an economy.

That’s why I was very interested to read his thoughts on the early decisions of Liz Truss as Tory leader and prime minister.

He’s horrified:

That’s a prediction, right there:Ā Truss will seek to dismantle the state.

So: Truss intends to bring in more pollution as part of aĀ policy of climate change denial.

So:Ā Truss is determined toĀ worsen your money woes, not ease them.

This is fascism, by the way.

To survive, we have to do better than this. He’s saying that if Truss sees through her agenda,Ā we won’t.

Mr Murphy also had this to say about Truss’s immediate spending plans with regard to the current cost of living crisis:

So now you know.

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As others see us: Sky Australia calls UK ‘basket case’ – and interview a basket case to prove it [VIDEO]

This is fun.

Sky Australia reckons the UK is a “basket case” right now.

And to illustrate it, the channel wheeled on Nigel Farage to blame it all on measures to fight climate change!

His advice to Australia? Pollute your environment, stink up your lives, and make it impossible to live in your country.

But then he contradicts himself by admitting that Vladimir Putin is holding the West to ransom – by withholding a polluting fossil fuel!

What a loony!

And then he goes on to suggest that UK Tories have been moving to the left wing of politics for years, when they’ve been playing withĀ fascism for 12 years!

Watch this craziness for yourself:

Why is this think tank so influential on Tory policy – and who pays for it?

The puppet PM-to-be? Liz Truss appears to be nothing more than a figurehead for shadowy business concerns. Are her strings being pulled by think tanks like Policy Exchange?

Remember the report the Tories pushed into both Houses of Parliament three years ago, attempting to claim that Extinction Rebellion is a terrorist organisation and its protests should be stopped?

A few months later it was revealed that ER had been listed as an “extremist ideology”, to be referred to the Prevent programme – which aims to safeguard vulnerable people from being drawn into terrorism.

There was a row, and then the referenceĀ was described as an error and removed.

But it is widely agreed that the report played a large role in the drafting of Priti Patel’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act which heavily restricts protest, criminalises many peaceful actions, disproportionately targets minority groups including Ā people of colour and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.

The report had been published by Policy Exchange, a right-wing think tank that is part of theĀ Tufton Street Brexit NexusĀ which

ties together fossil fuel interests, climate denial groups and a whole array of Brexit campaigns, pushing for a deregulated low-tax playing field pushing profit and growth over people and planet. As well as close ties to most of the current Conservative right politicians, they reach deep into the media, influencing the output of the Telegraph and Spectator, as well as the Times, Mail, Express and Sun.

We don’t know the names of everybody who funds this organisation, but information that is available shows that its work – and therefore Conservative Party policy – is being driven by private business interests:

As well as receiving around Ā£3million per yearĀ from undisclosed donors, it has received ā€˜sponsorshipā€™ money from many UK energy companies forĀ arranging meetingsĀ with government ministers, and these included Drax, E.On, Centrica, and lobbyist Energy UK. It also receives money from ā€˜American Friends of Policy Exchangeā€™, a US non-profit organisation supporting Policy Exchange UK and backed by mainly anonymous donors. They were listed in a 2017 ExxonMobilĀ worldwide-giving reportĀ Ā as receiving a $30,000 donation from the giant fossil fuel corporation. ExxonMobil has spent vast sums over decades onĀ promoting climate denial.

And think about this:

Policy Exchange also funds something called theĀ Judicial Power ProjectĀ which seeks to limit the rights of our justice system to rein in the power of government ministers or question unfair or draconian legislation. Under the guise of concern over ā€œhow and by whom public power is exercisedā€, itā€™s basically pushing for more power for heavily-lobbied ministers along with less accountability to a judicial system that may be more resistant to corporate influence.

Other changes suggested by Policy Exchange include calls for amendments to theĀ Overseas Operations Bill, giving soldiersĀ impunity for war crimes, and for government control over appointments of judges; and it has published a major study on ā€œjudicial interferenceā€ over the governmentā€™s Rwanda deal and other anti-asylum proposals. The project strongly influenced the tabling of the Judicial Review Act, whichĀ limits citizensā€™ abilityĀ to challenge government decisions in court.

And now, asĀ RealMedia points out,

we are about to face a leader elected by a tiny unrepresentative club, advised by secretly-funded policy units, and cheered on by a media owned by its rich friends and donors.

This will get messy and you will probably be badly harmed by what these people will do. The big question is: how long are you going to let them do it?

Source: The hidden forces pushing change in our democracy and rights – Real Media – The View From Below

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The false arguments against Greta Thunberg – and why you should ignore them

Emotion: Greta Thunberg was fighting back tears when she spoke at the UN Climate Change summit – because she knew many people would try to undermine her simple, common sense message?

Who would have thought a teenager who isn’t in showbusiness could have such an impact on the world?

This is a really strong speech:

Admittedly, Greta Thunberg has yet to persuade financiers and business leaders to stop the climate change-related harm they are doing to our environment, but this is probably because she has hit such resistance from the false-equivalence brigade.

For example:

Who are these people? I, for one, face no such contradiction in my thinking as I said Ms BegumĀ did know what she was doing when she ran off to join IS at the age of 15. I argued that she should be treated as an adult now because sheĀ is an adult now.

That is an argument about Ms Begum, rather than Ms Thunberg. It also ties in with this:

There is a huge difference between these two subjects, of course: Epstein was alleged to be exploiting teenagers – Ms Thunberg is expressing her own opinions.

And haven’t we been encouraging our young people to develop opinions on such subjects?

This Writer can remember television programmes going back to the 80s, at least, in which young people were canvassed for their views on political matters – and young viewers were encouraged to think about them.

And what about William Hague?

He was the poster boy of the Conservative conference in 1979 when he made a speech… at the ripe old age of 16.

Had he been exploited? Or was he perfectly capable of forming his own opinion? If the latter, then serious questions will have to be asked about political parties that have any kind of youth wing at all.

And that should not happen, because they are perfectly capable of thinking and acting properly at the age from which they may become members of such organisations.

The matter of sex is different because younger people are not always equipped to deal with the consequences of it. Legally, they are not considered capable of consenting to sex. Practically, they may be unable to access contraception, meaning pregnancy is more possible – with financial and social consequences. There is the huge issue of sexual exploitation. And not everybody is the same; some are mature enough to behave responsibly about such matters, and some are not.

Consider this: If a young teenager were to become pregnant, would she (and her partner, of course) have the maturity to understand that they are bringing a person into the world, with needs just like their own?

Answer: Some would, and some wouldn’t. The law is there to minimise tragic consequences, as much as it is there to prevent unwanted demands on medical and social services.

Turning to Ms Thunberg’s arguments: It is incredible that people are trying to marginalise them by saying she isn’t mature enough, or that she is being groomed, when they are the same arguments being used by adults across the world.

Look atĀ Harrison Ford:

He used the same “house on fire” metaphor as Ms Thunberg. Are her critics suggesting thatĀ he has been groomed?

The fact is that this young lady has come to a mature conclusion about the consequences of business decisions across the world and has struck a chord with young peopleĀ around the world – as well as adults.

People attacking her are in fact revealing their own inadequacies.

And who are these people?

None of them ever seem to be named.

I want to know who’s messing up the future for us all – don’t you?

Who are the businesspeople whose decisions are clagging up our air with carbon dioxide?

Who are the financiers who are funding them?

Who are the government ministers – worldwide, not just in the UK – who are helping them to vandalise our environment?

If they are named, they can be watched, criticised… ultimately prosecuted.

If not, they will get away with murder – billions of times over. And Ms Thunberg’s critics are their cynical little helpers.

EXTRA – October 15: I’ve just received this tweet:

Do you think that’s true?

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

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Tory minister suspended after he grabbed Greenpeace activist by the throat

Attack: Mark Field said he acted in the belief that a peaceful, female Greenpeace protester might be about to do violence. But – in this image – who is attacking who?

If you had not heard of Mark Field before today, nobody could blame you.

The only reference to him on This Site is from 2014, when he was named as one of many Conservative MPs with a stake in private health companies who was therefore likely to profit by allowing those firms to provide NHS services.

It’s a reasonable bet that you’ll have heard of him now, though – he has become infamous overnight after he grabbed a female Greenpeace activist by the throat and forcibly ejected her from the Mansion House, where she was taking part in a climate change protest at the annual dinner for bankers and politicians where Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond was making a speech.

As I type this, it is emerging that (caretaker) prime minister Theresa May has suspended Mr Field from his job as a Foreign Office minister, due to his apparent behaviour in this incident.

Let’s look at the video footage, courtesy of ITV reporter Paul Brand:

Mr Brand’s subsequent thread is worth reading:

Take note of that – he says she did not appear to present any immediate threat. That is important when considering the subsequent protestations of people like Peter Bottomley.

Not half!

No complaint has (yet) been made to the police. But fellow activist Hannah Martin has tweeted this statement:

Some Tories rushed to defend Mr Field’s behaviour, quoting bizarre reasons. Peter Bottomley was quoted byĀ The Mirror as sayingĀ it was justified because “a person could be carrying a collapsible truncheon”. Mr Bottomley added: “He intervened. I congratulate him for that. I would have done the same.”

Have a look at the footage again and ask yourself where she could have been hiding a truncheon. In her (tiny) handbag?

Here’s Mike Hurst, who labels himself as a security professional, standing up for Mr Field – and being thrown a truth bomb by another Twitter user:

How about this comment – and the response from a formerly battered wife:

Mr Field himself has released the following statement:Ā “In the confusion many guests understandably felt threatened and when one protester rushed past me towards the top table I instinctively reacted.

“There was no security present and I was for a split second genuinely worried she might have been armed.

“As a result I grasped the intruder firmly in order to remove her from the room as swiftly as possible.”

“Grasped the intruder firmly”?Ā He slammed her against a pillar.

He added: “I deeply regret this episode and unreservedly apologise to the lady concerned for grabbing her but in the current climate I felt the need to act decisively to close down the threat to the safety of those present.”

The “Tory Racism” Twitter account has slowed the footage and added a commentary – making the important point that not one person out of the 350 at the dinner lifted a single finger to help the peaceful protester who was being manhandled out of the room by a man who had gone for her throat:

This lack of intervention has been roundly condemned:

Tim O’Seery tweeted: “I actually find this quite harrowing. He brutalised this young woman while the rest of the Chinless Wonders just sat there and watched. This was assault and people have a Public Duty to prevent this sort of thing happening, if they can.”

Mr Field’s action is even more questionable when one examines his own – expressed – attitude to climate change. In a tweet just two weeks ago, he stated: “Climate security must be at the heart of foreign policy work at a global level. I am grateful for Germanyā€™s action in shining a spotlight on this issue at the Climate and Security Conference yesterday and look forward to continuing our work together.”

To this, ‘Geri the Gerbil’ appended: “As long as they don’t interrupt my dinner.”

Of course there is a political aspect to this:

A petition has been launched to get Mr Field sacked:

Last word on this (for now) should go to Tom Clark ofĀ Another Angry Voice:

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

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Wrong again, Graun! People ARE avoiding the news – except major developments. And for a good reason…

Propaganda: It seems people are avoiding the mainstream news outlets because they are seen as purveyors of fake – or at least severely slanted – news.

Brexit isn’t the reason people are avoiding the news – butĀ The Guardian only touches on the real reason, perhaps because it is too close to home.

People are turning away from mainstream news outlets because they are perceived to be pushing a particular agenda:

Britons also say they are losing trust in the news, with the authors attributing this to increased political polarisation: ā€œEven the most trusted brands like the BBC are seen by many as pushing or suppressing agendas ā€“ especially over polarising issues like Brexit and climate change.ā€

Doesn’t that seem more plausible than Brexit fatigue, when

according to one BBC insider, the BBC News website attracted 28 million unique visitors in January on the day ofĀ parliamentā€™s first meaningful voteĀ on Theresa Mayā€™s Brexit day, while 25 million checked the website the following day when it was covering theĀ no-confidence vote in the prime minister?

Brexit certainly hasn’t harmed This Site’s audience.Ā Vox Political‘s highest-ever visitor total was recorded on March 23 this year, when I reported on the ‘Revoke Brexit’ e-petition that became the most-signed petition on the government’s website: 93,008 views.

It’s certainly possible that some Britons are giving up on the news in order to avoid the blanket coverage of Brexit that has made it headline news practically every day since before the EU referendum.

But when

alleged Brexit fatigue among the British public has also been used by some news programmes to justify declining audiences,

it seems far more likely that the news media are trying to find an excuse that does not mention the possibility that they are pushing their own agenda.

Doesn’t it? Or is that paranoid conspiracy-theorising?

Source: Third of Britons say they avoid news out of Brexit frustration | Media | The Guardian

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

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Greta Thunberg: Critics can’t beat her with reason so they have fallen back on insult

Greta Thunberg: They couldn’t argue with her reasoning, so they insulted her instead.

The silly season has arrived early this year.

Extinction Rebellion has announced that its protest in London will end on Thursday with a day of disruption and a closing ceremony.

The organisation that spent nine days organising peaceful mass civil disobedience said it would leave its remaining blockades after opening up “a space for truth-telling” – and it was time to spread this space both locally, nationally and internationally.

One of the highlights of the protest was the visit by Greta Thunberg, whose speech at the United Nations Climate Change Conference last year galvanised a generation – ofĀ youngsters – to demand change on environmentally-catastrophic policies from uncaring world leaders.

She’s on her way home as I write this…

…Ā but it seems certain malcontents couldn’t wait for her to leave before spreading some “truth-telling” of their own.

And it only proved the truth of Margaret Thatcher’s decades-old claim: “If they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.”

Here’s a chap called Tom Harwood, who calls himself a journalist:

The clip is from the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009, when Ms Thunberg’s motherĀ Malena Ernman, represented Sweden with a song entitled ‘La voix’.

Apparently Mr Harwood wanted us to think this was a bad thing. He didn’t get what he wanted.

Apparently the point was that Ms Thunberg was one of the fabled “One per cent” – the most privileged people in the world. If so, then she has more brains, more conscience, than most of the rest of them put together and is even more to be praised, This Writer would have thought. And I’m not alone:

https://twitter.com/mquinnNUFC/status/1121077264224018434

Jade Azim’s response was right to the point: “IĀ cant believe she has the AUDACITY to have a singer as a mum and not want the ice caps to melt.”

Some chose to make a more pertinent observation – about the origin of the criticism.

Not only an employee of theĀ Guido Fawkes blog site, but also a former press officer for the Brexiteer campaign group BeLeave, it seems:

Yes, it seems Mr Harwood was a press officer for the youth-focused Brexit movement that was used by fellow Brexit campaign Vote Leave to break spending limits in the run-up to the EU referendum in 2016, according to the Electoral Commission. According to Shahmir Sanni, he wasĀ Head of Media for BeLeave and Head of the Student wing of Vote Leave.

So before he tries to shame other people, perhaps he should learn a little contrition himself.

At least he didn’t make the enormous gaff committed by Brendan O’Neill, editor ofĀ Spiked.

In an article headlinedĀ The cult of Greta Thunberg and sub-headedĀ This young woman sounds increasingly like a millenarian weirdo, he stated: “Anyone who doubts that the green movement is morphing into a millenarian cult should take a close look at Greta Thunberg.

“This poor young woman increasingly looks and sounds like a cult member. The monotone voice. The look of apocalyptic dread in her eyes. The explicit talk of the coming great ā€˜fireā€™ that will punish us for our eco-sins.

“There is something chilling and positively pre-modern about Ms Thunberg. One can imagine her in a sparse wooden church in the Plymouth Colony in the 1600s warning parishioners of the hellfire that will rain upon them if they fail to give up their witches.”

He’s entitled to his opinion, right? Well…

… maybe not.

At the end of the day, her critics have good reason to be grateful to Ms Thunberg: She is unlikely to respond in kind. For the reason, I’ll leave you with this: