Climate change and its threat to human life should be “the top news item every day”, the co-founder of activist group Extinction Rebellion has told a BBC presenter in an angry exchange over protests disrupting London.
Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Dr Gail Bradbrook was blasted as “privileged” by presenter Nick Robinson for encouraging people to take time off work to join the group.
Extinction Rebellion has received a lot of press coverage lately amid disruptive protests bringing the busiest parts of London to a standstill.
But Bradbrook said the demonstrations had been “awesome” and that the group were “making history”.
“People are having a fantastic time on the streets.”
She added that those facing disruption should “take the time off work and come and join us”.
In defence of commuters and non-protesters bearing the brunt of the disruption during rush hour, Robinson said: “Well, not people trying to go about their daily lives – they’re not having a good time. They’re having a miserable time.”
He continued: “They don’t, frankly, have the privilege to choose when they can go to work. They may not have that privilege and they may not really appreciate you telling them they’d have fun doing it.”
Bradbrook said she apologised “deeply” to those caught up in the disturbance.
On Wednesday, two men and a woman were charged after a stunt at Canary Wharf which saw one protester glue himself to a train, temporarily bringing the DLR service to a halt.
Robinson asked Bradbrook if the group were getting their point across by “gluing yourself to a train... as opposed to having a parliamentary debate, or David Attenborough”.
Bradbrook said the protest “gets you on the Today programme”.
“Well, it gets you on the Today programme in order to be asked why you’re disrupting people’s lives, not to talk about climate change. We talk about that all the time,” Robinson replied.
Bradbrook said: “If we were treating this as the emergency that it is, it would be on the news every single day.
“Our children are at risk of not having food to eat in a few years’ time...the severity of this is incredible. It’s unprecedented in humanity.
“Human extinction in our children’s lifetime, it should be your top news item every single day, what’s happening, you should be holding politicians to account.”
Robinson was accused of “bullying behaviour” amid backlash over the interview on social media.
“Nick Robinson entirely unhelpful in his interview with (attack on) Dr Gail Bradbrook this morning. These people will be looked back on as either the people who helped to save the planet or ‘oh shit they were right SOS,’” one user wrote.
However others took sides with the BBC radio presenter.
The interview came a day after Sky News’ Adam Boulton compared an Extinction Rebellion protester to a “right wing fascist” while branding him “incompetent” and “self-indulgent”.
Robin Boardman walked out on the interview on Sky News on Wednesday, telling Boulton “I won’t stand for anything else”.
Bradbrook added that we needed a “wartime-type” of mobilisation to make the changes that the group demands, including net zero emissions by 2025, which beats the UN target of 2050.
The group says it has three demands: net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, the creation of a Citizens Assembly for ecological justice, and for the government to declare a climate emergency.