Discussing the most recent disruptions to petrol stations on the M25 on yesterday’s Jeremy Vine show on Channel 5, Mike Parry shouted down JustStopOil activist Miranda Whelehan saying young people haven’t contributed enough to society to get a voice.
After JustStopOil activists were seen smashing petrol stations in their protest against the licensing of new oil fields, Mike Parry, who appeared as a guest on the show, said: “I’ve paid £2-3million in tax, therefore I have the right to contribute how the world runs. These young people don’t. They have never paid a penny in tax.”
Host Storm Huntley quickly responded, saying “You don’t know that.”
Still, Parry doubled down on his argument, repeating: “They’ve contributed very little to the development of this country.”
JustStopOil spokesperson Miranda Whelehan later clarified: “Most of these people have jobs. I don’t really understand how you think these people just exist.”
Whelehan then went on to point out the severity of the situation and the necessity of protests like the ones on the M25: “It’s 46 degrees in India and this is just the start of the summer.”
Mike Parry swiftly responded, saying: “India is a very hot country.”
This comes only weeks after Whelehan went viral with an appearance on Good Morning Britain, where she also campaigned for climate action only to have host Richard Madeley describe JustStopOil as “playground-ish”.
Online users were quick to compare this incident to a scene in Oscar-nominated blockbuster Don’t Look Up that portrayed the press in similar ways.
Whelehan wrote about her experiences on Good Morning Britain and the media sensation the interview has become in this opinion piece for the Guardian. Here, she writes: “The worst part is that these presenters and journalists think that they know better than chief scientists or academics who have been studying the climate crisis for decades, and they refuse to hear otherwise. It is willful blindness and it is going to kill us.”
Clips of Mike Parry’s outbursts of climate denial and dismissal of younger generations are now also making the rounds online.
Twitter user @kinokast found clear words for Parry’s behaviour on Jeremy Vine and called him an “arrogant, self-entitled boomer – denying the science whilst robbing the youth of their future.
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