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Packham tells bank users to set fire to themselves

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TV presenter and naturalist Chris Packham gestures outside Buckingham Palace as school students and parents gather in order to hand over a 100,000-signature petition urging the Royal Family to rewild their land, in central London on October 9, 2021, ahead of the Cop26 climate talks. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP) (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

As a key speaker at the Action for Wildlife Day at Carsington Water, Mr Packham said: “If anyone here is banking with Barclays then I suggest you stick your head in a bucket of fuel and set fire to it, because you are burning our planet down and it’s time to put this stuff behind us.”

In the video taken by Fieldsports Channel, the Springwatch host urged people at the event not to bank with financial institutions that invest in “fossil fuels, weapons and poverty”. A complaint about his comments was made to police by a country sports enthusiast, but Derbyshire Constabulary confirmed that no criminal offence had been committed.

The organisers of the event – formerly the Hen Harrier Day – also gave space to the Protect the Wild group, which is launching what it calls a “TripAdvisor for antis”, an online list of UK businesses that it believes support hunting and shooting.

Shooting Times contacted Mr Packham’s representatives for comment.