Page 22
Choppy waters: Greta on the yacht Inset: Arron BanksFury at Farage friend’s
‘yacht accidents happen’
jibe at activist Greta, 16
BREXIT financier Arron Banks was
yesterday condemned for suggest-
ing that he wanted teenage activist
Greta Thunberg to drown on her
trans-Atlantic yacht voyage.
After 16-year-old Greta set out on her
journey, the close ally of Nigel Farage
said on Twitter: ‘Freak yachting acci-
dents do happen in August...’
He later tweeted that his remark was a
joke after his comment prompted an out-
raged response from social media users.
Greta left the Mayflower Marina in Ply-
mouth on Wednesday, embarking on a two-
week voyage across the Atlantic on a sup-
posedly carbon-neutral racing yacht, the
Malizia II, so she can attend high-profile cli-
mate events without using aircraft or ships
which emit greenhouse gases.
The Swedish teenager’s ‘school strikes’
have inspired a global protest movement
by young people demanding urgent action
on climate change.
Among those to criticise Mr Banks was
Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington, who
said: ‘You’re wishing a potentially fatal acci-
dent on to a 16-year-old girl, why...?’
She had earlier written: ‘If you are a grown
up, fully-fledged adult and you are mocking
this young girl for trying to save the planet
then I genuinely feel sorry for you.’
Novelist Philip Pullman added: ‘That’s how
you’ll be remembered, Banks. That’s the
measure of you.’
One Twitter user responded to Mr Banks’
post by saying: ‘You know she’s 16, right?’.
Others called his comment ‘despicable’. Mr
Banks, one of the self-styled ‘bad boys’ of
Second police
officer was
poisoned by
novichok
TRACES of the novichok nerve
agent have been found in the
blood of a second policeman
following last year’s chemical
attack in Salisbury.
The officer in the Wiltshire
force ‘displayed signs at the
time’ of being exposed to a
‘very small amount’ of the nerve
agent, and this has since been
proven by forensic tests, Scot-
land Yard revealed yesterday.
A blood sample was taken
from the officer, who does not
want to be named, soon after
the March 2018 attack, which
targeted former Russian spy
Sergei Skripal, 67, and his
daughter Yulia, 34.
The policeman was given
‘appropriate’ treatment at the
time. He is the sixth confirmed
victim of the poisoning, which
also saw Detective Sergeant
Nick Bailey fall seriously ill.
Dawn Sturgess died and her
partner Charlie Rowley was left
seriously ill after coming into
contact with the poison.
Two men, Alexander Petrov
and Ruslan Boshirov, are
accused of the attack.1.3billion Indians
warned about
population rise
INDIA’S prime minister has
warned for the first time of the
risks of an ‘unchecked popula-
tion explosion’ in the nation
of 1.3billion.
Narendra Modi called for fam-
ily planning measures and
praised an ‘informed section’
of society who are ‘doing good
for the country’ by choosing to
have small families.
India has the second biggest
population in the world behind
China with 1.4billion – which it is
set to surpass by 2024.
‘It will bring a lot of challenges
for the future generations,’ Mr
Modi said in a speech in New
Delhi. He added: ‘We have to
think if we can do justice to the
aspirations of our children.’Daily Mail ReporterGreen Party’s MP Caroline Lucas
said she had complained to Twit-
ter about Mr Banks’ tweet, saying
it ‘made her sick’.
Greta is travelling with experi-
enced skippers Boris Herrmann
and Pierre Casiraghi – the
grandson of Monaco’s late PrinceRanier III and actress Grace Kelly- her father Svante, cameraman
Nathan Grossman as well as her
stuffed rabbit.
The crew will not be able to enjoy
many home comforts and will have
no access to showers and only a
bucket to use as a toilet.
The teenager, who met then envi-
ronment secretary Michael Gove
in April during a fortnight-long cli-
mate protest in London, said she
will not be meeting Donald Trump
when she arrives in the US.
She said Mr Trump has ignored
experts about global warming, so
she saw no reason why he would
listen to her.
She is also planning to visit Can-
ada and Mexico before travelling
to a UN climate conference in San-
tiago, Chile, in December using
buses and trains.
Last night sailing experts ques-
tioned whether the voyage on a
carbon fibre racing yacht could be
entirely zero carbon. Building this
type of racing boat requires three
tonnes of carbon fibre and a multi-
tude of other materials.Brexit who helped bankroll the
Leave.EU campaign, later
defended his post.
And, in response to another
tweet which highlighted that
Greta was a child, he said: ‘Quite,
and one being used.
‘Obviously I don’t hope she
encounters a freak yachting acci-
dent! I just enjoy watching the
ludicrous tweeter mob following
the next outrage.’
He replied to someone accusing
him of showing ‘his true colours’,
saying: ‘It was a joke... you lefties
have no sense of humour.’ The
By Josh White
PAGES 34-35JAN MOIR
(^) Daily Mail, Friday, August 16, 2019