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:
People were outraged at Parry's blatant bigotry.
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 ..'"
People were quick to point out his own clearly stated words were what led folks to that conclusion.
They proceeded to roast him anew.
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.
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