The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson receives harsh criticism. He first arrived at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow with a doomsday-like warning, and now he is accused of “astonishing hypocrisy”.
On Tuesday night, Johnson took a private plane on the 65-mile trip between Glasgow and London to attend a dinner with former colleagues, writes The Guardian.
This is in stark contrast to the message the Prime Minister, who is hosting the UN summit, made in his speech on Monday:
– It is one minute to midnight. The longer we wait to shop, the worse it gets.
There is an urgent need to do something about climate change, said Johnson, who together with around 130 heads of state and government attended the conference on Monday and Tuesday.
What seemed to be even more urgent was to return to London on Tuesday night.
– One-way ticket to disaster
Went to private men’s club
Johnson did not have time to spend four and a half hours on the train when he was to return to the British capital. Instead, he took private jets. The Prime Minister received early criticism for this, but the criticism was met with a statement from the Prime Minister’s office that Johnson had “time limits”.
Now it turns out that the time restrictions meant a dinner at the private men’s club The Garrick Club in London. Here he attended a dinner with former colleagues from the newspaper Daily Telegraph, where Johnson once worked as a columnist.
This makes Labor politician and Member of Parliament Anneliese Dodds look red.
– This is astonishingly hypocritical of the Prime Minister, she says according to the British newspaper.
Following British warning: – Worrying
Met climate skeptics
Johnson is said to have arrived at Stansted London Airport at 7.16pm on Tuesday night, before leaving for the men’s club.
Later that evening, Johnson was photographed leaving the club, escorted out by former editor-in-chief Charles Moore. This throws more fuel on the fire for those who now criticize the Prime Minister.
Moore is described as a self-proclaimed climate skeptic, as he himself has described the climate crisis as “speculation”. Last week, the former editor wrote an article in the Daily Telegraph in which he claimed that climate scientists have not been able to prove the crisis.
“After warning world leaders that it was one minute past midnight to solve the climate catastrophe, Boris Johnson flew from COP26 to London in a private plane to have dinner at a men’s club with a self-proclaimed climate skeptic,” says Anneliese Dodds.
Moore himself is said to have refused to comment on the meeting.
– Will compensate for the emissions
A spokesman for the Prime Minister has responded to the criticism:
– It is important that the Prime Minister is able to travel around the country, and we are obviously facing major time constraints.
Another spokesman at the Prime Minister’s Office adds that all travel decisions are made with regard to security and timetable. Furthermore, it is claimed that Johnson’s private aircraft are of the somewhat kinder type.
– The Prime Minister travels with one of the most carbon-efficient aircraft of the same size, which uses the most sustainable fuel possible.
The Prime Minister’s Office also promises that the UK will compensate for all carbon emissions associated with holding COP26, including travel.
“Wake up, Boris”
Got shut up after picture
This is not the first time this week the Prime Minister Johnson is criticized in connection with the climate summit. Among other things, he was examined for having been photographed with his eyes closed during the summit’s official opening ceremony on Monday. Not only that. Unlike most people around him, he did not wear a face mask.
The office of the British Prime Minister once again had to put out fires. They vehemently denied that Johnson – at any time – had slept during the climate summit.
