British Journalist Mike Parry is facing major backlash after he said "minorities have to be squashed" during an appearance on Jeremy Vine's eponymous show.
Parry voiced this disturbing thought during a discussion with Vine about Insulate Britain protesters, who have caused significant disruptions on the M25 highway recently.
Protesters have taken to running in front of oncoming vehicles to disrupt traffic and bring attention to their cause. Being that the group is an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, it should be no surprise their demands are largely related to climate change.
They want, according to Yahoo!News:
"For the government to fund and take responsibility for the insulation of all social housing in Britain by 2025."
"Produce - within four months - a legally binding national plan to pay for all homes in Britain to become low-energy and low-carbon by 2030 with a future aim of fully decarbonising society and the economy."
Parry's objection to "minorities" came after Vine asked about whether protesters should somehow be removed from the roads if they had glued their hands to the road itself.
Guest Yasmin Alibhai-Brown said no, as some amount of protest must be tolerated in a free society.
Parry, on the other hand, took the opportunity to launch into a tirade about how minorities are ruining Britain, complete with table-slapping for emphasis.
"Not to the detriment of millions of other people. The problem in this country in all areas is that minorities always get the upper hand because we're so tolerant."
"And minorities have to be squashed like that!"
You can view clips of Parry's on-air diatribe below:
Mike Parry: “The problem in this country, in all areas, is that the minorities always get the upper hand cos we’re… https://t.co/q1pXlFCdnK— David (@David) 1633081513.0
People were outraged at Parry's blatant bigotry.
@SpillerOfTea I’m confused. So are we a ‘tolerant country’ or one where ‘minorities need to be squashed’. The two seem mutually exclusive— Anton Emmanuel (@Anton Emmanuel) 1633131492.0
@kazzaB33 @Zero_4 See he's frantically back peddling on his twitter feed with a "not all minorities" set of tweets.… https://t.co/Utz31EYwZF— Cjmg (@Cjmg) 1633094770.0
@Zero_4 Squashed, in the same way you would squash an insect. Lovely bit of dehumanisation there. Guess it would j… https://t.co/uDuqzHvDSo— Louise LaTran. 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 🧜♀️ (@Louise LaTran. 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 🧜♀️) 1633089527.0
@SpillerOfTea I dont understand how the presenter tries to joke it off and move on after something so horrific was… https://t.co/cNxbsupsQL— ForzaSchumi (v) 🏳️🌈🇪🇺 #FuckBrexit (@ForzaSchumi (v) 🏳️🌈🇪🇺 #FuckBrexit) 1633100252.0
@SpillerOfTea I hate Vine with a passion for continually platforming transphobes.— LizC (@LizC) 1633096404.0
Parry later tried to backpedal on his comment via Twitter.
"1. Can I explain please the context of my comment on the @JeremyVineOn5 show this morning: 'Minorities have to be squashed' It sounds brutal in isolation but it was directly aimed at the M25 protestors and OTHER minority groups who've had a disproportionate effect on life ..'"
1. Can I explain please the context of my comment on the @JeremyVineOn5 show this morning: "Minorities have to be s… https://t.co/7sXrajg4b6— Mike Parry (@Mike Parry) 1633093430.0
2. Before today's show we were discussing wind power/energy sources .. a story we covered .. and I expressed the v… https://t.co/hnKJWqXWWj— Mike Parry (@Mike Parry) 1633093737.0
3. I do not regard anybody who is not my religion, creed or colour as a person in a minority group. I'm not even aw… https://t.co/uXwBhCSjFr— Mike Parry (@Mike Parry) 1633094206.0
People were quick to point out his own clearly stated words were what led folks to that conclusion.
They proceeded to roast him anew.
@CapableOfFlight @mikeparry8 @JeremyVineOn5 It's the fault of the words he said for meaning the things he meant to… https://t.co/NeDOYRTFEF— Gordon_H_Gopher (@Gordon_H_Gopher) 1633111441.0
@mikeparry8 @JeremyVineOn5 You think this tweet is helping? You’ve basically just confirmed that you think that an… https://t.co/ZgQfecpLfb— Terry Tibbs (@Terry Tibbs) 1633097436.0
@mikeparry8 @JeremyVineOn5 "how dare the public assume the words that came out of my mouth mean what they actually mean"— Cole 🎃🍂👻 (@Cole 🎃🍂👻) 1633094843.0
@Chris__Dee @mikeparry8 @JeremyVineOn5 Exactly. He was clearly making a broader point about ‘minorities’ in general… https://t.co/KIKU6aDbl7— Charles Donovan (@Charles Donovan) 1633108921.0
@biscuitsgod @mikeparry8 @JeremyVineOn5 He even squashed an imaginary minority— Thucydides1989 (@Thucydides1989) 1633102485.0
Vine evidently also tried to defend Parry in a now-deleted tweet, saying:
"This would have been totally unacceptable had Mike been referring to members of ethnic minorities. In fact this snippet does not make clear @mikeparry8 was actually talking about the eco-protesters who brought the M25 to a halt. He said they represented very few people in the UK."
He apparently missed the memo "squashing" generally isn't considered an acceptable way of addressing protesters who inconvenience the public.