The RSPB’s Vice President, Chris Packham, caused quite a stir at their hen harrier day gathering in the summer when he called on any members of the crowd who banked with Barclays to ‘stick their head in a bucket and set fire to it’.
The comments were heavily criticised, with one member of the public reporting the presenter to Derbyshire police.
The complainant wrote to Derbyshire Constabulary asking how such remarks could be 'legal' given the 'recent spate of direct action' and that they could be seen as an incitement.
The RSPB’s vice president, Chris Packham, caused quite a stir at their hen harrier day gathering in the summer when he called on any members of the crowd who banked with Barclays to ‘stick their head in a bucket and set fire to it’.
The comments were heavily criticised, with one member of the public reporting the presenter to Derbyshire police.
The complainant wrote to Derbyshire Constabulary asking how such remarks could be 'legal' given the 'recent spate of direct action' and that they could be seen as an incitement.
Packham was also criticised by the Countryside Alliance, with its CEO Tim Bonner saying: 'It appears that in an increasingly desperate bid to stay in the media spotlight, Mr Packham is resorting to saying more and more bizarre and outlandish things to get noticed’.
The extraordinary hypocrisy of Packham’s position at the little hen harrier day gathering was highlighted by one observant attendee who noticed all the power for the event was coming from a huge diesel generator, which churns out poisonous carbon monoxide into the atmosphere.
The Pramac P11000 model, which costs over £5,550, is an industrial piece of kit was on throughout the day powering the stage that the speakers were standing upon.
The attendee told us: “Here we were being told by Packham that we should set ourselves on fire for having the audacity to bank with a mainstream high street bank, whilst at the same time his event was burning large amounts of diesel right there in front of us. It was a hypocritical luvvie gathering.”
The RSPB dominated the pop up sponsorship stands, as well as a host of conservation charities.
Although the little hen harrier day gathering was billed as a day to raise awareness of the plight of the birds, not one of the three members of speakers mentioned that the birds are now at record levels across whole country and that rates of persecution have dropped to all-time lows.
It can only be assumed that this piece of good news is not convenient for their fundraising efforts to publicise.