Boris Johnson mocks Extinction Rebellion as “uncooperative crusties”
Becoming a complete parody of himself, it turns out that Boris Johnson spends his free time at book launches for hated Conservative politicians and criticising environmentalists (when he’s not Snapchatting ofc).
Speaking at a launch for a new Margaret Thatcher biography, penned by his former colleague at the Telegraph Charles Moore, he claimed that advisors had warned him off attending due to the risk of attracting unfavourable attention from climate change protestors. “I am afraid that the security people didn’t want me to come along tonight because they said the road was full of uncooperative crusties and protesters of all kinds littering the road,” he said, adding that; “they said there was some risk that I would be egged.”
Johnson was clearly making reference to Extinction Rebellion, with the protest group currently in the midst of an ambitious two week “international rebellion” to attempt to push politicians into taking action on the climate crisis. The protests began on 7 October and the group is planning to occupy 12 key London sites (such as the home office, London City Airport and Trafalgar Square) as well as carry out similar actions in 23 other cities.
Yet the government appears to be taking little heed of the protestors, with police making 600 arrests in the first two days of the “rebellion” and a series of arrests leading up to the actions. Rather than civil disobedience, Johnson thinks climate change activists should take a (literal) leaf out of Thatcher’s book. Claiming that she “took [climate change] seriously long before Greta Thunberg” he recommended that: “for the education of the denizens of the heaving hemp-smelling bivouacs that now litter Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park, the best thing would be for them to stop blocking the traffic and buy a copy of Charles’s magnificent book so that they can learn about a true feminist, green and revolutionary who changed the world for the better.”
Whilst it is correct to say that the ’80s politician took an early interest in environmental issues, particularly relating to the ozone, she did jump on the climate-change-denying bandwagon in her 2002 memoirs. However, calling her a “feminist” or “revolutionary” is much more far-fetched. Thatcher has long been one of the most hated UK politicians and there are lots of reasons why: she promoted homophobia with Section 28 laws, abolished free milk in schools, supported capital punishment and crushed the UK’s manufacturing industry, leading to widespread unemployment.
So no, Boris. You couldn’t get us to read a Thatcher biography if you paid us.
