Tory MPs demand sacking of environmentalist Ben Goldsmith after he pledges support for eco-activists
Top Tory environmentalist Ben Goldsmith BACKS Extinction Rebellion protesters blocking oil terminals – sparking a furious backlash and demands he resign from board of DEFRA
Ben Goldsmith whips up a fury among Tory MPs after he supports eco protestors They demand he resign or be sacked as a non-executive director of DEFRAHe apologises over the row and admits he ‘panics’ about climate change
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MPs are demanding the departure of Conservative environmentalist Ben Goldsmith from the board of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs after he pledged his support to eco-activists targeting Britain’s oil terminals.
Mr Goldsmith, who is the brother of government minister Lord Goldsmith, whipped up a fury among Tory ranks after he spoke out against the imposition of injunctions on protestors who have disrupted fuel supplies and caused misery for motorists.
Activists from Just Stop Oil have been hampering access to oil terminals for days and boasted of how their actions have caused many petrol stations to shut across the country.
But despite the havoc being wreaked by the group – an off-shoot of Extinction Rebellion – they found support from Mr Goldsmith, who sits on DEFRA’s board as a non-executive director.
After Labour demanded ministers bring in immediate nationwide injunctions to block the demonstrations, he told the Opposition it was ‘not a good look’.
In a now-deleted Twitter post, Mr Goldsmith added: ‘The protestors are right to be doing whatever it takes to wake people up.
‘The fossil fuel industry is grubby and dangerous. We need to unhook ourselves from our dependence asap.’
Ben Goldsmith, the brother of government minister Lord Goldsmith, whipped up a fury among Tory ranks after he gave his support to eco-activists
Just Stop Oil have been hampering access to oil terminals for days and boasted of how their actions have caused many petrol stations to shut across the country
Mr Goldsmith’s tweet provoked outrage among Tory MPs who demanded he either resign from his DEFRA role or be sacked by Environment Secretary George Eustice.
Chris Loder, MP for West Dorset, said that Mr Goldsmith was ‘inappropriately interfering in political matters’ as a DEFRA director, and accused him of ‘hanging on to his brother’s coattails’.
He called on Mr Goldsmith to either ‘resign and stand for election’ or be sacked by Mr Eustice.
Mr Loder also vowed to quit as a member of the Conservative Environment Network (CEN), which Mr Goldsmith chairs.
‘One of us will not be a member of this organisation at the end of today,’ he said.
A Conservative former minister also joined the calls for Mr Goldsmith’s departure from his DEFRA role.
They told MailOnline: ‘Of course he should go. He is encouraging illegal conduct.
‘His position is untenable and if he doesn’t resign, George Eustice should fire him.’
Following the uproar, Mr Goldsmith later said he had tweeted ‘in a personal capacity’ and stressed that support for Extinction Rebellion was neither a CEN or DEFRA position.
‘I have therefore retracted these tweets,’ he said.
‘I recognise the disruption these protests are causing to people’s lives and livelihoods.
‘I’ve always previously stood publicly opposed to the controversial and often bonkers methods employed by ER.’
The group is an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, who staged a demonstration in central London this weekend
Police were forced to remove activists from the capital’s Tower Bridge last week as they continued their campaign of disruption
Boris Johnson and his wife, Carrie Johnson, are close to the Goldsmith family
However, Mr Goldsmith added that he was ‘not alone in feeling a rising sense of panic’ about climate change issues ‘as the reported science grows ever grimmer’.
‘Awareness and action are not commensurate with the scale of the issue, even if we in the UK are now leading the way globally,’ he said.
Mr Goldsmith also apologised to Tory MPs on the WhatsApp group for CEN members.
The financier and environmentalist is the brother of Foreign Office minister Lord Goldsmith and former journalist Jemima Goldsmith.
The Goldsmith family are close with the family of Boris Johnson.
In October last year, the Prime Minister enjoyed a free stay at the holiday home of the Goldsmith family in southern Spain.
Mr Johnson’s wife, Carrie Johnson, is also a close friend of Lord Goldsmith, who she worked for in her first job in politics.
Ben Goldsmith is a trustee of the Aspinall Foundation, the wildlife charity that employs Mrs Johnson as head of communications.
