XR fan Stanley blasts protests
STANLEY JOHNSON has condemned eco-activists who shut the M25, as Extinction Rebellion protesters blocked entrances to a private airport yesterday.
The Prime Minister’s father is an ardent supporter of the XR campaign, but said he draws the line at illegal road protests by its offshoot Insulate Britain.
He branded the repeated blockades “counter-productive”, saying: “I sympathise with them but they need to act within the law. I’m not sure blocking motorways is helpful to their cause. They will turn off a lot of potential supporters.”
Meanwhile, Extinction Rebellion activists claimed to have blocked all major entrances to a private airport in protest against emissions from private jets using the site.
Mr Johnson, 81, right, said: “Go to my website, you’ll see me wearing an XR badge
addressing a rally in Trafalgar Square. I care deeply about environmental issues and will be up in Manchester [at the Tory Party Conference] talking at a couple of events about the urgency of tackling climate change and the nature crisis.”
A stretched limousine was parked at the gates to Farnborough Airport, Hants, by members of Extinction Rebellion yesterday.
Former airline pilot Todd Smith, 32, was
among the
protesters who said they wanted to raise awareness of the emissions caused by private flights.
Mr Smith, from Reading, criticised the airport’s claim to offer alternative fuel.
He said: “The term ‘sustainable aviation fuel’ was coined by the aviation and fossil fuel industry to deceive the public and greenwash the utterly destructive nature of biofuels.
“Biofuels result in land grabs, deforestation, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, rising food prices and land-use emissions which can be worse than the fossil fuel they are replacing.”