Thread by @docrussjackson

#THREAD

Lois Perry, a panelist & guest presenter on #JeremyVine, recently made the fearmongering & divisive claim in the Daily Mirror that "face masks instill fear & division".

The Mirror neglected to mention she's a representative of Lawrence Fox's COVID-denying Reclaim Party.

The Mirror also neglected to say that Lois Perry is Director & owner of CAR26, a new company which questions whether carbon dioxide is a "significant factor in global warming" & suggests teaching kids about climate change is "borderline child abuse".

Can you see what it is yet?

Perry was spotted on Glasgow Streets with unhinged anti-vaxxer Piers Corbyn during #COP26, & a poll showing public support for a referendum on the UK’s net zero goal which was on the front page of the Telegraph on October 21st, was paid for by Perry's CAR26.

It's a small world!

Last year Lois Perry made a name for herself as yet another outrage clickbait merchant when as a guest presenter on #JeremyVine she accused Meghan Markle of 'domestic abuse', suggesting that Prince Harry is a victim of domestic abuse.

mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/out…

Also on #JeremyVine, Perry recounted a bizarre story of when she claimed to have "met Boris Johnson on the street" when Johnson was working at the Spectator, & he invited her to into his office, adding "something could have happened but it didn't".

hitc.com/en-gb/2021/01/…

Perry's husband & business associate, Richard Hillgrove, is founder of '6 Hillgrove PR'.

Hillgrove (unsurprisingly) claims on his LinkedIn account that he is "considered one of the world's leading crisis communications and image reputation professionals".

Really?

Being "one of the world's leading crisis communications & image reputation professionals" you thought he might have been able to avert the departure of former clients - Naked energy, SaveMoneyCutCarbon & Vivienne Westwood - once they heard about his wife's crank CAR26 outfit.

Lois Perry's husband, Richard Hill, is an, er, 'interesting' chap with an, er, 'colourful' background.

In 2013 it was revealed that Nigella Lawson was the "victim of vicious smear campaign by former Charles Saatchi publicist Richard Hillgrove".

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/n…

And on 3rd March 2017, "convicted tax fraudster & PR professional Richard Hillgrove was declared bankrupt after failing to pay a £24,500 personal tax bill."

A previous conviction came after Hillgrove PR failed to pay nearly £90,000 in VAT & PAYE payments between 2011 & 2012.

Anyway, Perry is an associate at 6 Hillgrove, the PR firm whose clients have included the National Lottery, Aldi, Little Chef & the Big Issue, & the CAR26 revelations prompted past clients to distance themselves from the firm.

desmog.com/2021/10/28/new…

In August this year, DeSmog reported how Lawrence Fox had made campaigning against low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) a key plank of his political activities, saying the schemes were “nonsensical” & even “neighbourhood destroying.”

Why would he say that?

desmog.com/2021/08/18/low…

Fox’s accusation that LTNs delay emergency vehicles has been largely disproved.

Most people know Lawrence Fox is a vocal critic of #COVID19 lockdowns & face masks, but fewer people know he has said climate change is “not as bad as everyone says it is”.

findingspress.org/article/23568-…

Calls for a Net Zero referendum by Sunday Telegraph editor Allister Heath, & later Iain Duncan Smith who wrote: “there is a case to be made that if the political elite refuse to engage, a referendum on net zero might be necessary” were triggered by the YouGov poll Perry paid for.

The hard-right Telegraph has a long history of casting doubt on climate science & opposing action to cut emissions.

A study published in August found that the paper’s coverage of climate change between 2005 & 2019 was “well behind the curve” in terms of scientific accuracy.

“That The Telegraph has platformed this campaign’s toxic narrative is no surprise... this will continue to put their advertisers in an awkward position. For example, @sainsburys help to fund the Telegraph while promoting themselves as a ‘Principal Partner’ of #COP26.”

Ahead of #COP26, Liberation crank Steve Baker also appeared to back the idea of a net zero referendum in a @BBC interview.

"Brexit showed that a few ruthless, well-connected people with big money behind them can change history. Now they’re at it again.."

opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-…

Perry's CAR26 website says it stands for “climate analysis reason” & opposes the “plentiful absurdity in the ‘climate emergency’”, listing questions it wants answered as: “Is CO2 a significant factor in global warming?” & “What are the good & bad impacts of any global warming?”.

Who funds CAR26? Their Steve Bannon/billionaire-funded libertarian think tank inspired rhetoric is reminiscent of the rhetoric & 'divide & rule' strategy deployed by Big Tobacco over decades trying to cast doubt on the link between smoking & lung cancer.

https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1459100260551303189?s=20

Perry's CAR26 also says it “denounces conscription of our impressionable passionate youth to a false ‘war on CO2’ by green millionaires, educators & politicians – brainwashing & distracting from deserving real conservation & humanitarian issues... Borderline child abuse?”

FFS.

None of this will be a surprise to anyone familiar with the network of influence which attracts massive investment from US billionaire Libertarians such as Koch & Peter Thiel: it goes from Tufton St, Spiked, GB "News" & the Spectator, to the Telegraph, & the heart of the UK Govt.

What is most concerning is not that this network exists & is against ANY form of protection for workers, consumers or the environment, or even that they manufactured Brexit: the problem is they have sleeper candidates lined up to replace Boris Johnson.

https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1463206547048349710?s=20