Home Secretary Suella Braverman has slammed eco campaigner Chris Packham after his documentary asked if it’s time for people to to break the law for green issues.
Naturalist Chris Packham appeared on Good Morning Britain today (Wednesday, September 20) to promote his new documentary ‘Chris Packham: Is it Time to Break the Law’.
The broadcaster asks whether illegal acts of civil disobedience are justified in the face of an environmental crisis when speaking with hosts Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley.
Packham said: “The UK should be a world leader.
“We have the capability to see opportunities when it comes to addressing climate breakdown, not just problems.
“We are heading in completely the wrong direction.”
Susanna Reid told the Home Secretary: “He [Chris] said that this could mean that protestors will take their actions much further.
“That this could be seen as incitement to violence.”
Suella Braverman said that she “disagreed totally” with Packham’s view-point.
Richard Madeley said that some people have suggested Chris is endorsing the violence by not condemning it.
Braverman said: “That’s incredibly irresponsible and reckless.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved over the last 10 years when it comes to the environment.”
Earlier in the show Packham insisted he wasn’t inciting violence.
He said, “I have not incited any violence.
“I have no intention, at this point, of committing any violence myself.
“I’m not, therefore, leading by any form, or example.
“But it is my duty, in order to protect this planet at this critical time, to ask people to think very critically about their role in protecting it.”
Asked by Richard why he does not condemn the actions of a man he interviews for his documentary, who has written a book called ‘How To Blow Up A Pipeline’.
Packham replied: “It’s called ‘How To Blow Up a Pipeline’.
“It’s not giving those instructions.
“It’s asking you to think about whether that type of progress is justified and I think that we’ve reached a point where we have to, as individuals, make conscious decisions about where we sit, [where] the law sits and [where] the ethics of this situation sit.”
He added: “We changed the laws so rapidly in this country, to impact upon protest, you can’t even stand in the street with a t-shirt on without being dragged away.
“Now is that the country that you want to live in? Is that the degree of freedom that we want taken away from us?
“At the core of our democracy is our human right to protest and that human right is being eroded at a critical time in our species’ history.
“If we do not exercise that right, to use our voices, to change policies, to protect us and our future and that of our children and everything living on this planet, then I do not feel we are doing our duty.”
To watch the interview and show in full visit itv.com.
