Boris Johnson has been castigated on social media after tweeting about his hopes for a “greener” future alongside a picture of him traveling by private jet from London to the G7 summit in Cornwall this weekend.
Writing on Twitter, the PM said:
“I’ve arrived in Cornwall for this year’s @G7 where I’ll be asking my fellow leaders to rise to the challenge of beating the pandemic and building back better, fairer and greener.
“It will be a busy and important Summit, and I can’t wait to get started”
However, alongside his words, Johnson posted a picture giving a thumbs up whilst boarding a private jet to take him the 250-mile journey from the capital to Cornwall.
Unsurprisingly, many were quick to point out the astonishing irony of the PM’s demand for a greener future whilst taking such a short trip in one of the most polluting ways possible.
Notorious Twitter comedian, TechnicallyRon, wrote:
“Nothing says ‘a greener future’ quite like taking a private jet from London to Cornwall.”
Nothing says 'a greener future' quite like taking a private jet from London to Cornwall. https://t.co/lzy5kd9xTs
— TechnicallyRon (@TechnicallyRon) June 9, 2021
Whilst Labour MP Luke Pollard made perhaps the worst pun of the day, writing:
“This is plane stupid.
“There’s no trainline to Washington or Tokyo but there is one between Cornwall and London. Take the train, Prime Minister.”
This is plane stupid.
There’s no trainline to Washington or Tokyo but there is one between Cornwall and London.
Take the train, Prime Minister. https://t.co/mCrq7l3LUq
— Luke Pollard MP (@LukePollard) June 9, 2021
Whilst novelist, Gareth Powell, called the PM a “thundering clown“:
Fairer and greener? Then why did you take a *plane* from London to Cornwall, you thundering clown? https://t.co/E2FaVy1Yww
— Gareth L Powell (@garethlpowell) June 9, 2021
Indeed, the sheer volume of negative tweets about Johnson’s gaffe really is incredible – even for *this* Prime Minister:
A flight from London to Cornwall creates roughly 1 tonne of CO2 emissions, more than is produced the average household in a year. 50 trees would need to be planted to offset these emissions. https://t.co/OSO5BV4AYl
— Bethany Dawson (@bethanymrd) June 9, 2021
Did he really just fly from London to Cornwall to talk about a 'greener' future? https://t.co/SQGZtZUQVQ
— Ross Greer (@Ross_Greer) June 9, 2021
What a clown https://t.co/T05MNWlmDz
— Chris Mandle (@chris_mandle) June 9, 2021
Did he just call for G7 leaders to be "greener" after take a plane to fly from London to Cornwall? https://t.co/pFL0jW8tSX
— Benjamin Butterworth (@benjaminbutter) June 9, 2021
Arriving by plane? What, was there no oil tanker available to drop you off?
— Daniel Dawkins (@DanDawkins) June 9, 2021
The G7 Summit is scheduled to begin on Friday 7th June – and world leaders such as President Biden are scheduled to arrive shortly.
One topic of huge discussion will again be climate change – and it it remains to be seen whether any of the world leaders will mention Boris Johnson’s latest mind-bogglingly hypocritical gaffe.
Test