Prime Minister Boris Johnson has described Extinction Rebellion climate protesters as “nose-ringed”, “hemp-smelling” “crusties”.
The comments came as the group began a fortnight of disruptive action in central London yesterday.
At least 280 people were arrested on the first day of protests for their role in blocking roads surrounding Parliament and Whitehall, as the group vowed to “make sure no traffic can get through to the central area of the government and the executive”.
The protests, which Extinction Rebellion have claimed will be five times bigger than their previous actions in April, will include a three-day sit-in at London City Airport.
Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute in Whitehall last night, the Prime Minister said: “I am afraid that the security people didn’t want me to come along tonight because they said the road was full of uncooperative crusties and protesters littering the road.”
Mr Johnson also claimed in his speech that Margaret Thatcher was an environmentalist “long before Greta Thunberg.”
