Westminster’s favourite millionaire environmentalists are it again. It seems that one or other of the Goldsmith brothers can’t go three months without sticking their foot in it. Today it’s the turn of Ben, the less prominent but no less gaffe-prone millionaire, who is one of the non-executive directors in Defra – the environment department in which his brother Zac currently serves as minister.
Undeterred by last night’s shenanigans by Crispin Blunt, Ben Goldsmith decided to today make himself the main character of Tory twitter by offering his views on the oil blockades currently being imposed by eco-activists. Responding to Labour’s call to impose an injunction on the disruptors, Goldsmith declared:
Not a good look from @UKLabour. The protestors are right to be doing whatever it takes to wake people up. The fossil fuel industry is grubby and dangerous. We need to unhook ourselves from our dependence asap. I’m with @ExtinctionR.
With wearisome predictability, after an outcry the tweet was then subsequently deleted. Tory MPs in the Defra Whatsapp group are now kicking off, with Damian Green suggesting Goldsmith should resign and Simon Jupp describing his views as ‘codswallop.’ Others have left the Conservative Environment Network (CEN) chat: the pressure group was founded by Goldsmith and recently boasted having half the Conservative parliamentary party as members in its caucus. Backbencher Chris Loder has declared that ‘one of us will not be a member of this organisation at the end of today.’
This is of course, not the first time that one of the Goldsmiths have become embroiled in Twitter shenanigans. Just last month Ben Goldsmith was casting aspersions on Dorset Police, after an eagle was found poisoned in the local area. Eco-activists on Twitter demanded action but an autopsy and police investigation revealed the bird most likely died from poison consumed by rodents it had then subsequently eaten.
Goldsmith’s response was to suggest that no investigation had taken place – even though officers released a statement confirming that ‘a detailed examination and tests have been carried out.’ Zac meanwhile has used the same platform to act as something of a rapid rebuttal unit for the Johnsons during their time in No. 10.
Twitter is one thing, the real world of course is quite another. In recent months, Zac Goldsmith has found himself embroiled in both the disastrous Operation Ark scandal and claims about his tax status. Ben Goldsmith has meanwhile admitted breaking his own department’s rules over the release of deer from his land – something which Zac’s boss George Eustice subsequently conceded in a Daily Mail interview.
Ben Goldsmith is now desperately trying to save his Defra post, messaging the CEN chat to say:
I’ve always previously stood publicly opposed to the methods employed by ER, but frustration got the better of me on this occasion. I know I’m not alone in feeling a rising sense of panic as the reported science grows ever grimmer. Action is far too slow, even if we in the UK are leading the way globally.
Will that be enough?
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