A guest on This Morning today sparked outrage after he called for Christmas lights to be banned.
And it wasn’t just viewers – host Phillip Schofield called him a “Grinch”.
What happened on This Morning today?
Phillip and co-host Holly Willoughby welcomed Matt Shardlow from Buglife to talk about why his organisation wants people to scale back their Christmas lights to limit damage to the environment.
When he introduced Matt, Phillip said: “I mean, what a Grinch!”
Read more: Holly Willoughby wears gorgeous green velvet dress to host This Morning today
Matt replied: “Well, what we’re trying to do is raise awareness of the impact of light pollution because we’re diurnal animals and we’re not used to thinking about light as being pollution.
“But most animals actually live in the night. The darkness is their home and what they depend on.
“How far do you want to go here?”
Matt went on to explain that light pollution can greatly change the ecology and endanger bugs like moths, mayflies and earthworms.
Phillip then asked: “How far do you want to go here?
“Do you want the streetlamps turned off? Do you want all houses to turn off their Christmas lights? If I’ve got a Christmas tree shining out of my window, do I shut my curtains?”
“We don’t want to over-egg this,” Matt replied. “This is about a bigger trend about light pollution.”
https://twitter.com/cb_038/status/1466352181687332865
#ThisMorning really? Ban Christmas lights? Why do you bring out these people every year to put a downer on Christmas. Everyone needs a pick up this year, give us all a break.
— MetroDMH (@MetroDMH) December 2, 2021
Banning Christmas lights now, it’s getting ridiculous. Just go back to the 1900s and sit in the darkness by candle light #ThisMorning
— Paul (@paulbond86) December 2, 2021
How did viewers react to the idea?
Viewers soon took to Twitter to express their outrage at the idea of banning Christmas lights.
One asked: “Has that Pompous middle class idiot wanting to ban Christmas lights finished yet?”
Another wrote: “#ThisMorning really? Ban Christmas lights?
“Why do you bring out these people every year to put a downer on Christmas. Everyone needs a pick up this year, give us all a break.”
A third added: “Banning Christmas lights now, it’s getting ridiculous. Just go back to the 1900s and sit in the darkness by candle light #ThisMorning.”
https://twitter.com/SabrinaRaven18/status/1466351781424869378
However, some viewers agreed with Matt’s plea to scale things back.
One viewer said: “@thismorning: ‘should we ban Christmas lights to save the bugs?’ SO off the mark with this one, why is light pollution even up for debate?!?!?!
“Light some candles at Christmas instead! We should love our planet more than some tacky light installation.”
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