Think-tank goes woke with BLM and Greta awards
BRITAIN’S most prestigious foreign affairs think-tank was last night accused of becoming the latest institution in thrall to ‘woke culture’ after giving awards to a Black Lives Matter leader and Greta Thunberg.
Chatham House, also known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, has made three awards ‘recognising outstanding contributions to confronting the critical challenges facing the world today’. The Centenary Changemakers Award went to Miss Thunberg, 18, the Swedish activist challenging world leaders to avert climate change.
The Centenary Diversity Champion Award went to Melina Abdullah, cofounder of the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter. The movement was formed to protest against police brutality and violence against black people, but critics say it has led to the silencing of free speech.
Brendan Clarke-Smith, Tory MP for Bassetlaw, said: ‘When the world faces tackling the Covid-19 pandemic and our brilliant scientists have given us light at the end of the tunnel, we see another exercise in recognising wokery above real achievement.
‘We should be focusing on bringing people together, not giving awards to those who seek to cause division.
‘I see no such recognition of normalisation of relations in the Middle East or building bridges between North and South Korea. Perhaps this doesn’t tick the right boxes.’
Chatham House director Dr Robin Niblett said the winners had demonstrated ‘a shared commitment to building a more sustainable and inclusive world’.