Black Lives Matter leader misses London City Airport protest… because she had to catch ‘taxpayer-funded’ flight to Brazil
Natalie Jeffers, from Brighton, jetted off to the luxurious Costa do Sauipe beach resort as fellow activists demonstrated against 'racist' climate change
ONE of the leaders of Black Lives Matter UK missed the group’s airport protest this week – because she had to catch a "taxpayer-funded" flight to Brazil.
On Tuesday morning, demonstrators from the organisation once again caused travel chaos for thousands by targeting a major transport hub.
Nine activists got onto the runway at London City Airport, causing dozens of flights to be cancelled or diverted after chaining themselves to a wooden tripod.
The group later said it had targeted the airport because of climate change’s disproportionate effect on black people.
In a series of tweets, they wrote: “Climate crisis is a racist crisis. 7/10 of the countries most affected by climate change are in sub-Saharan Africa.
“The UK is the biggest per-capita contributor to temperature change & among the least vulnerable to its affects.
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“At London City Airport a small elite is able to fly, in 2016 alone 3,176 migrants have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean #Shutdown.
“By 2050 there will be 200 million climate refugees. Black people are the first to die, not the first to fly, in this racist climate crisis.”
But despite retweeting several of the above messages, Black Lives Matter founding member Natalie Jeffers, from Brighton, was unable to make it to the demo as she was flying to South America.
Jeffers caught a fuel-guzzling long-haul flight to Brazil to speak at a feminist conference in the luxurious Costa do Sauipe beach resort.
The Association for Women's Rights in Development reserved every room at the all-inclusive for its 13th international forum.
On its website, the resort describes itself as “a heavenly place with year-round sunshine… and calm, warm waters surrounded by natural beauty”.
The sandy beaches, poolside cocktail bars and spa seem a world away from the poverty in which many Brazilians live.
In addition to her work with Black Lives Matter, Jeffers also runs an organisation called Matters of the Earth – which is funded to the tune of £50,000 by the British taxpayer.
According to the Times, a source close to international development secretary Priti Patel said the minister was furious about the spending and would be demanding to know why the funding was granted.
A spokesman for the Department for International Development, which paid the five-figure grant, said: “In 2015, one of our subcontractors commissioned Matters of the Earth to produce small-scale and specific pieces of work.
“The money was not used for wider agendas.”
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