Lorraine Kelly has slammed the Extinction Rebellion group after climate change activists launched what protests on London’s Underground network that she has described as “toxic”.
The ITV breakfast show presenter was enraged after seeing footage from Thursday morning of protesters climbing on top of the trains at Canning Town station, before being dragged off by angry commuters.
Speaking during a live link-up with Good Morning Britain, Lorraine said she “doesn’t understand” why the group has targeted public transport, describing the scenes as “absolutely nuts”.
“This is horrendous. I don’t recognise my country, what is going on?” she said.
“Absolutely horrible. People just trying to get to their work for goodness sake on the train there, which is electric anyway.
“I just don’t understand. It doesn’t make any sense to me. I think all of us have got sympathy for what they’re trying to do, but it’s just the way they’re going about it, it’s just so toxic and divisive.”
“Somebody’s going to get killed. It’s just nuts, absolutely nuts,” she added.
GMB presenter Ben Shephard added: “It’s tiring isn’t it watching it? It’s really, really shocking. That aggressive atmosphere when you’re just trying to get to work.”
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, has also condemned the Extinction Rebellion protests, saying in a statement the “illegal action is extremely dangerous, counterproductive and is causing unacceptable disruption to Londoners who use public transport to get to work”.
He added: “It is also an unfair burden on our already overstretched police officers. I urge demonstrators to protest peacefully and within the boundaries of the law.”
The British Transport Police has said there have been four arrests so far at Stratford and Canning Town on the Jubilee Line.
“We remain at Shadwell DLR station, where specialist teams are working to remove four other protesters,” it added.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV, with Lorraine following at 8.30am.