Irritated Tory MP Blasts “Arrogant Middle-Class” Extinction Rebellion Climate Protesters
15 April 2019, 15:26 | Updated: 15 April 2019, 16:12
Shelagh Fogarty took a Conservative MP to task over his denial of climate change and his assumption that most of the Extinction Rebellion protesters must be on benefits.
Thousands of people are taking part in a week of protests across London organised by the eco-activist group.
Demonstrators blocked roads at several major junctions, causing traffic in some parts of the capital to grind to a halt.
Protesters also smashed windows, sprayed graffiti and glued themselves to the doors at London's Shell HQ.
Taking to Twitter earlier today, David Davies slammed the protests for causing "needless delays".
Thousands face needless delays going to work because of this. Govt should stop pandering to them. A rise of less than 1deg, partly due to the end of the little ice age, doesn’t mean we should ban cars, flying & everything else which makes 21st century so great to live in. pic.twitter.com/FCtav1wFq9
— David Davies MP 🏴🇬🇧 (@DavidTCDavies) April 15, 2019
The Conservative MP for Monmouth then told Shelagh that the protesters were "only able to take days off work because...we have the ability to pay people benefits because we have a capitalist system".
Shelagh replied: "You're making an assumption about people being on benefits are you?"
"I am making an assumption about them yes," Mr Davies said. "But I think it's probably a fair assumption...I'm not saying they're all on benefits but I'll bet you most of them aren't doing a normal 9 to 5 day's work."
The MP continued: "Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people's lives are being disrupted, quite unfairly, by a smallest minority of arrogant, middle-class protesters."
Shelagh then asked: "What has their class got to do with anything?"
Mr Davies responded: "They're not just stopping people in cars...they're actually hitting people using public transport".
When asked by Shelagh where the MP stands on climate change, he said: "They've been saying [that we're in trouble] for about 20 years now.
"I've been hearing since the late 1990s we've only got 10 days or 10 minutes or 10 months to save the entire world".
Watch the interview above.
