'Good Morning Britain' host under fire for ‘patronising’ interview with climate activist

Good Morning Britain presenter Richard Madeley has come under fire for what has been labelled a “patronising” and “misogynistic” interview with 20-year-old climate activist Miranda Whelehan. A snippet from the ITV breakfast show, which has gone viral on Twitter, shows Whelehan trying to explain why activist group Just Stop Oil had peacefully blocked oil terminals in Essex.

“But you’d accept, wouldn’t you, that it’s a very complicated discussion to be had, it’s a very complicated thing,” show host Madeley said in response. “And this ‘Just Stop Oil’ slogan is very playground-ish isn’t it? It’s very Vicky Pollard, quite childish.

″‘Just Stop Oil’, come on, there’s more to say than that isn’t there?” he said.

Whelehan countered Madeley by saying that new oil licensing needed to be stopped. To this, he responded that Good Morning Britain had received only furious complaints from viewers about the blockades, and not one message of support.

The activist pointed to IPCC reports from this year which say “we are on the road to climate catastrophe.”
The exchange has drawn comparisons to Don’t Look Up - the recent Netflix release in which two astronomers try to convince world leaders to act in time to save the earth from total destruction by a comet.

On Twitter, where the clip has racked up over 3.5 million views, people accused the TV presenter of bullying the climate activist.