Martin Daubney was quick to shut down a “distasteful” comparison put forward by a Just Stop Oil activist during a lively GB News discussion.
A spokesperson for the group, Grahame Buss, spoke on The People’s Channel about proposals to make protesters pay compensation for the disruption they cause.
Just Stop Oil have sparked controversy in recent years with their radical methods that often aim to maximise disruption.
Buss opened up his GB News interview by drawing a comparison to the infected blood scandal, which has today seen a long-awaited report accuse doctors, the Government and the NHS of letting patients catch HIV and hepatitis.
Martin Daubney clashed with Grahame Buss
GB NEWS
“It’s interesting what the campaigners said after 40 years”, he said.
“‘Nothing to see here’, ‘nobody held accountable’, that’s pretty much the position we’re in right now in the middle of a climate crisis, isn’t it?”
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Just Stop Oil have halted theatre productions and sporting eventsPA/Just Stop OilDaubney, keen to move the conversation onto the topic at hand, said: “Some might find that comparison distasteful. Can we just move onto the current report?”
The GB News presenter then probed Buss about Lord Walney’s suggestions, but the Just Stop Oil activist had little time for them as he accused the Government adviser of “not being independent”.
“No. We are rightly proud of our freedoms in this country.
“Non-violent civil resistance, including disruption, is a bedrock of our democracy. It is recognised in international law.
“Do we want to be like Russia or the United Arab Emirates where they lock them up for non-violent civil resistance?
“We have a statue of Emmeline Pankhurst outside Parliament, she engaged in civil resistance.”
Individuals, business or institutions that could show they endured loss, distress or suffering from an illegal protest would be entitled to court-ordered compensation from activists, according to the Daily Telegraph.
A Home Office source told the Telegraph: “If Just Stop Oil organises a major roadblock and you cannot get to work or you miss a hospital appointment, there would be a framework where you could more easily sue the organisation for the loss they have caused you. It would be a statutory scheme but civil action.
“Number 10 really sees the politics of being able to give more power to individuals to be able to do this. Every time it happens, you have intense frustration for individuals who take things into their own hands but are ultimately powerless when they cannot get to where they are going.
“People organising these blockades are not seeing sufficient deterrent from individual prosecutions. It is about how much it will be worthwhile for them to do it if these proposals are enacted.”