Chris Packham slams GB News guest for ‘utter BS’ climate conspiracy theory

GB News, the controversial TV channel which has been found in breach of Ofcom’s impartiality rules on several occasions now, has broadcast a number of alarming and outlandish perspectives and conspiracy theories since its launch in June 2021 - from Neil Oliver ranting about non-existent “turbo cancer” from vaccines, to Laurence Fox making “misogynistic” comments about a female journalist.

Now, the broadcaster has been accused of “ramping up the climate conspiracy rhetoric” by amplifying the baseless theory that “half of the population of the world will die” if policies aimed at reaching net zero – that is, when carbon emissions are cancelled out by carbon capture measures – are implemented.

Journalist Jasmine Birtles appeared on The Neil Oliver Show on Sunday and said: “As you know, one of the co-founders of Greenpeace, Patrick Moore, he’s recently said that if we get to net zero, half of the population of the world will die.

“Now, many will say that that’s part of the point, the ‘agenda’ – the depopulation agenda, if it does exist – is to remove seven and a half billion people from the world.”

Unsurprisingly, Oliver chipped in himself rather than offer any challenge to what Birtles said, branding the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – a UN document signed in 2015 comprising 17 “sustainable development goals”, including the sustainable management of forests; combatting of desertification and conservation of the seas and oceans – “anti-human”.

A bit silly when the third goal is all about ensuring “healthy lives and [promoting] wellbeing for all at all ages”.

Not to mention that Greenpeace distanced itself from Moore as far back as 2010, publishing a statement in which it said the consultant “does not represent” and “did not found” the environmental campaigning group.

It reads: “Patrick Moore has been a paid spokesman for a variety of polluting industries for more than 30 years, including the timber, mining, chemical and the aquaculture industries. Most of these industries hired Mr Moore only after becoming the focus of a Greenpeace campaign to improve their environmental performance.

“Mr Moore has now worked for polluters for far longer than he ever worked for Greenpeace … [He] frequently portrays himself as a founder or co-founder of Greenpeace, and many news outlets have repeated this characterisation.

“Although Mr Moore played a significant role in Greenpeace Canada for several years, he did not found Greenpeace. Phil Cote, Irving Stowe, and Jim Bohlen founded Greenpeace in 1970.”

The discussion between Oliver and Birtles has since been slammed by climate campaigners on social media, with many calling on the broadcasting regulator Ofcom to intervene, and TV presenter Chris Packham branding it “utter BS” and “dangerous”:

And it isn’t the only GB News clip to circulate on Twitter/X in recent days, as a resurfaced video of presenter Nana Akua in December saw the broadcaster ask “is it OK to spike women, or actually, is it OK to spike anyone’s drink?”

The question was used to promote an online poll, which formed part of a wider segment on drinks spiking after James Cleverly, the home secretary, was found to have joked about putting “a little bit of Rohypnol in her [his wife’s] drink every night” – Rohypnol being a drug associated with date rape.

He later apologised for what he said was an “awful joke”.

Akua asked: “Is it OK to joke about spiking women? I’ve got a poll up right now on X asking you that very question.

“The question is: is it OK to spike women? Well, actually, is it OK to spike anyone’s drink? Cast that vote now.

While the poll itself actually asked the question regarding joking about spiking women, Twitter/X users weren’t impressed with Akua asking if the act of spiking a person’s drink is ever OK:

The government announced a raft of measures designed to tackle spiking back in December, which included a public advice and guidance toolkit and investing money into spiking testing kits.

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