GMB viewers compare Richard Madeley interview with climate activist to Don’t Look Up

Climate activists have disrupted the UK’s oil infrastructure in recent days

An interview of a Just Stop Oil activist on ITV’s Good Morning Britain Monday has been compared to the satirical movie Don’t Look Up.

Viewers of the show Monday have said there were similarities between the interview of climate activist Miranda Whelehan and the movie in which astronomers are not taken seriously by TV journalists when they warn that a comet posing an existential threat to humanity is headed toward planet Earth.

“The parallels with scenes from Don’t Look Up were hard to ignore in that shambles of an interview,” said one Twitter user, Joe Hislop. “Or should I say three person attack.”

“GMB is reminding me of that scene in Don’t Look Up when the TV presenters don’t get the fact that we are about to die,” said another Twitter user. “Scary.”

Richard Madeley interviews Just Stop Oil activist (GMB)

There were also complaints about the nature of the interview which Twitter users described as an “attack,” “patronising” and “bullying.”

In the interview GMB presenter Richard Madeley asked Ms Whelehan whether she would accept that it was a “very complicated discussion” and that this “‘Just Stop Oil’ slogan is very playground-ish, isn’t it, it’s very Vicky Pollard, it’s quite childish.”

Ms Whelehan, visibly taken aback by the question, responds by saying that she thinks the answers are in fact “very simple,” adding that the country needs to stop new oil licensing.

Mr Madeley goes on to say that GMB expected to receive some messages of support for Just Stop Oil activists but hadn’t received any, and had only received “furious” complaints from people “nothing positive at all.”

Ms Whelehan countered that the latest UN climate reports published in recent weeks said the world was on the road to climate catastrophe, and was on the path toward 3 degrees of warming, the impacts of which would primarily impact younger and future generations.

“I think we have a moral responsibility to act now,” she said, adding that the UK is currently in a position of climate leadership as it holds the COP presidency. “We could set the way for the whole planet by committing to stopping oil.”

Later in the conversation, journalist Lowri Turner, who was also a guest on the show, accused the climate demonstrations of being about “ego” and said activists should focus on the government instead of disrupting the lives of ordinary people.

“As soon as the sun comes out, it’s eco-festival time,” she said. “Let’s advertise to my friends what a great person I am, while ordinary people who have to go to work can’t get to work.”

Many Twitter users expressed their dismay at Ms Whelehan treatment on the show, while others criticized Just Stop Oil for the disruption caused by the demonstrations.

“Protests like this do not work! It just p****s people off and takes focus off the actual problem,” said another user, James Anderson.

“Some of us can’t afford electric or hybrid cars,” replied another user.

In recent days, climate activists have been disrupting the UK’s oil infrastructure, locking themselves to pipes and in some cases bringing distribution to a halt. The Just Stop Oil coalition wants the government to halt new fossil fuel licensing and production.

The movie Don’t Look Up starred Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio and was a staricial comedy that grappled with the climate crisis.

A spokesperson for Just Stop Oil said the interview Monday reflected the “media bias” towards the government and the fossil fuel industry.

“All of the IPCC Reports have repeatedly proven that the oil industry is harmful towards human life,” she said, referring to the UN climate reports.

The Independent has contacted Good Morning Britain and Mr Madeley’s representatives for comment.