Labour and Green Eurosceptics Won't Support Vote Leave Campaign With Climate Denier Lord Lawson at the Helm

onFeb 9, 2016 @ 00:01 PST

Climate science denier Lord Lawson’s appointment as chairman to the Vote Leave EU referendum campaign group has caused further division amongst Eurosceptics as the campaign’s leading Labour MP Kate Hoey and the Green Party’s Baroness Jenny Jones both withdraw support for the group.

Both Baroness Jones (pictured) and Hoey continue to support Britain leaving the EU but will not endorse Vote Leave to be the officially designated ‘Out’ campaign.

As Baroness Jones wrote on Twitter: “Will vote to leave #EU but can’t work with an organisation with so little judgement as to put Lawson at its head.”

When asked in response by one Twitter user “isn’t the point we have to work with people we disagree on other things?” Baroness Jones replied saying Lawson “is a bully as well as too embarassing to work with.”

I constantly work with disagreeable people on single issues. But Lawson is embarrassingly deluded on Climate Change. https://t.co/3X0erH36n4

— Jenny Jones (@GreenJennyJones) February 5, 2016

Lawson was named the new chairman last week after John Mills, the chairman at the time and a Labour supporter, wrote to Vote Leave campaign director Dominic Cummings accusing him of “generating more and more ill feeling.”

The group’s splintering prompted both UKIP’s Nigel Farage and UKIP donor Arron Banks, founder of the rival Leave.EU, to accuse Vote Leave of having “no real cross-party support”.

Lawson’s new chairmanship is the latest example of climate science deniers taking the charge when it comes to leading the Brexit campaign. Catch up with all of DeSmog UK’s coverage here:

Why Are Climate Deniers Campaigning for Britain to Leave the EU?

Climate Deniers Farage and Lawson to Debate Nick Clegg on EU Referendum

Five Climate Change Questions for Lord Lawson at the Next Big Brexit Debate

You can also click here for an overview on Brexit climate deniers.

Photo via Wikimedia

By Kyla Mandel

Kyla is a freelance writer and editor with work appearing in the New York Times, National Geographic, HuffPost, Mother Jones, and Outside. She is also a member of the Society for Environmental Journalists.

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