Charlotte Hawkins was forced to interrupt an interview on Monday's Good Morning Britain to correct Chris Packham after he repeatedly referred to her as her colleague Susanna Reid. The Springwatch host appeared via video link to discuss the recent Just Stop Oil protests, but kept mixing up the presenter's name.
During the debate, Mr Packham expressed his displeasure at the sentencing of protesters, saying he was 'not happy at all' because he believed the punishments were 'unduly punitive'. He argued that those committing violent or sexual offences often receive shorter sentences than climate activists, describing the protesters as 'canaries in the coal mine'.
Richard Madeley then interjected to highlight that the issue was not solely about free speech and the right to protest, pointing to the disruptive consequences of the tactics. He cited a judge's remarks about ambulances being unable to reach patients and cancer appointments having to be deferred as a result of the demonstrations.
Mr Packham responded by comparing the disruption to last week's global IT outage, which he said was 'far greater than this'. He also mentioned the recent incident in which two Just Stop Oil protesters threw cornstarch over Stonehenge, lamenting that the media had focused heavily on it while ignoring a 100,000-strong march he had joined to highlight biodiversity loss.
Charlotte then defended the show's coverage of climate change, referencing weather presenter Laura's climate emergency clock. However, Mr Packham interjected, addressing her as 'Susanna', prompting Charlotte to correct him: 'It is Charlotte, by the way.'
