Chris Packham tells Barclays prospects to set hearth to themselves
BBC presenter Chris Packham told people who bank with Barclays to stick their heads in a bucket of petrol and set fire to it in a strange anti-bank rant.
The 63-year-old has been criticised for his comments that were made at an anti-grouse shooting event in Derbyshire last weekend.
The Springwatch host urged people at the Action for Wildlife Day event not to bank with financial institutions that invest in ‘fossil fuels, weapons and poverty’.
‘But if anyone here is banking with Barclays, then I suggest you stick your head in a bucket of fuel and set fire to it,’ Mr Packham told the crowd.
‘Because you’re burning our planet down and it’s time to put this stuff behind us.’
A complaint about his comments was made to police by a country sports enthusiast who wished to remain anonymous, The Telegraph has reported.
BBC presenter Chris Packham told people who bank with Barclays to stick their heads in a bucket of petrol and set fire to it in a strange anti-bank rant
The Springwatch host urged people at the Action for Wildlife Day event not to bank with financial institutions that invest in ‘fossil fuels, weapons and poverty’ (file picture)
Mr Packham has been criticised for his comments that were made at an anti-grouse shoot in Derbyshire last weekend
The complainant wrote to Derbyshire Constabulary asking how such remarks could be ‘legal’ given the ‘recent spate of direct action’ and that they could be seen as an incitement.
A spokesperson for the force confirmed that after reviewing the video, no criminal offences had been committed.
They said: ‘The words used in this instance do not reach the threshold for an offence and no action will be taken in relation to this incident.’
Mr Packham has also been criticised by the CEO of the Countryside Alliance, Tim Bonner, who said: ‘It appears that in an increasingly desperate bid to stay in the media spotlight, Mr Packham is resorting to saying more and more bizarre and outlandish things to get noticed.’
Mr Packham appeared at the Action for Wildlife Day at Carsington in the Derbyshire Dales as a key speaker for pressure group Wildlife Justice.
The group challenges decisions made in UK courts in an attempt to protect the country’s wildlife.
Chris Packham speaks during Restore Nature Now rally in Parliament Square on June 22
Chris Packham and Just Stop Oil activist Cressie Gethin outside Isleworth Crown Court on February 14
Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion were also at the gathering with Mr Packham asking his supporters to sign a petition for the release of five protesters in prison for their part in causing disruption on the M25 in 2022.
The petition calls for ‘the immediate end to the imprisonment of brave, nonviolent political prisoners, jailed for telling the truth and acting in resistance to continued extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal’.
The BBC presenter said at the event: ‘Unless we retain that right for peaceful protest as part of our portfolio that we need for change, then I think we’re in deep trouble.’
Mr Packham has previously spoken out against the prison sentences for Roger Hallam, 58, Daniel Shaw, 38, Louise Lancaster, 58, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, 35, and Cressida Gethin, 22, saying they are a ‘direct theft of freedom’.
Hallam, co-founder of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, was sentenced to five years imprisonment last month while the remaining four defendants were each handed four years’ imprisonment in what are thought to be the longest sentences ever given for peaceful protest.
Speaking at a press conference after the sentencing outside Southwark Crown Court, TV presenter Packham said: ‘Be clear, be very, very clear, this is not just about climate activism.
‘The laws that have been drafted, the injustices that are being wrought, threaten all rights of free speech.
Chris Packham takes part in the ‘Restore Nature Now’ protest supported by Extinction Rebellion on June 22
Chris Packham speaking to the media outside Isleworth Crown Court, west London, ahead of the trial of Cressie Gethin, 22, who climbed an M25 gantry in 2022
‘We stand here today because our future security may be comprised by the reckless and irresponsible erosion of our human rights, of our fundamental freedoms.’
‘I stand here because I believe this represents the direct theft of our freedom, the destruction of our democracy, the deliberate and calculated intimidation of our protesters, and that, unless we resist this, the very real danger is that our species will destroy life on Earth.’
MailOnline has contacted Barclays for comment.
