Tory MPs have criticised Ben Goldsmith and called for his resignation as chair of the Conservative Environment Network (CEN) and a director at Defra after he voiced support for Extinction Rebellion.
The financier and environmentalist, who sits on Defra’s board, has apologised after criticising Labour’s strong stance against the Just Stop Oil protests, during which activists have blockaded fuel distribution terminals. He has said he has no plans to resign.
Goldsmith, the brother of the minister and peer Zac, tweeted: “Not a good look from Labour. The protesters 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. I’m with Extinction Rebellion.”
The shadow justice secretary, Steve Reed, responded: “This from a Conservative official is an insult to people facing misery trying to get to work. While the government continues to refuse to act, Labour has called for immediate injunctions to put a stop to this disruption.”
A Conservative MP called for Goldsmith to step down from his positions at Defra and CEN. Chris Loder, the MP for West Dorset and a member of CEN, said: “Ben Goldsmith is inappropriately interfering in political matters when he is a Defra director, hanging on to his brother’s coattails. He should either resign and stand for election or be sacked.”
He threatened to step down himself from CEN, which Goldsmith founded, if the financier was still a member by the end of the day. The Conservative group includes 133 MPs, half of all Tory backbenchers. Loder has previously locked horns with the environmental campaigner after claiming rare white-tailed eagles were not welcome in his constituency, and that the police should prioritise investigating other crimes over wildlife crime. Goldsmith campaigns for the reintroduction of wild species including white-tailed eagles.
Others who have criticised Goldsmith’s tweet include Fay Jones, the MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, and the former cabinet minister Damian Green, both on a Conservative WhatsApp group.
In an apology message to CEN MPs, Goldsmith said: “This morning I tweeted in a personal capacity my sympathies for the Extinction Rebellion protests. Support of ER is neither a CEN nor a Defra position. I have therefore retracted these tweets.
“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. That being said, I know I’m not alone in feeling a rising sense of panic 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.”
A government source said: “Ben expressed a personal view, not that of the government. People have the right to protest, and the issue of climate change is very important. That’s why we’re taking such ambitious action to tackle it. But these XR protests are not peaceful protests, they are disrupting people’s lives and it is wholly unacceptable. That’s why the government is taking robust action to stop them.”
