Election 2022: Simon Holmes a Court ‘bullied me online’, says UK activist

A prominent climate activist says Simon Holmes a Court tried to ‘harass’ and ‘bully’ her into silence for supporting nuclear power.

British climate activist Zion Lights.

A prominent British climate activist has accused Climate 200 leader and businessman Simon Holmes a Court of trying to “harass” and “bully” her into silence for advocating nuclear power as a potentially safe and clean zero-emissions alternative to fossil fuels.

Zion Lights told The Australian she felt pressured by Mr Holmes a Court to abandon her support for nuclear energy after persistent tweets and private messages which criticised her for “nonsense” and “bad science”.

In one direct message, the businessman, who backs renewable energy and leads the Climate 200 campaign group which is funding 20 independents at the election, told Ms Lights: “whoa, so are you sticking by those wind and solar numbers, note that I am not trying to embarrass you publicly, but to prevent you from being embarrassed publicly.”

Ms Lights, who was spokeswoman for hard-left climate group Extinction Rebellion UK before switching to support for nuclear energy, said Mr Holmes a Court first contacted her from Australia in late 2020 with tweets and direct messages which she said were “initially quite friendly”.

But she said the Climate 200 leader’s posts and messages became increasingly hostile when she disputed his claims her data on nuclear power was “wrong” and she refused to take down social media posts on the subject.

Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes a Court. Picture: AAP

Ms Lights said she received so many comments, many accusing her of shoddy sources, that she blocked Mr Holmes a Court. But she said unpleasant tweets and tags continued into last year.

“I was hounded, so I blocked him,” she told The Australian from her home southwest of London. “Then I found he was continuing to tag me, but I couldn’t see it because he was blocked.

“I only found out because people would send me screenshots of a DM, and I said, ‘to be honest, I don’t want to see it, I just want this person to leave me alone’.”

Ms Lights, who describes herself as a passionate science advocate and writer, claimed she received messages from Holmes a Court followers on Twitter after blocking him. “They sent me messages saying, ‘you should talk to Simon, you’re not allowed to ignore Simon’, which I found a bit creepy.”

Ms Lights said she was not opposed to renewables, but she believed Mr Holmes a Court “did not like it that my work had been quite well covered, and people ­listened to me”. She said she felt “bullied” by Mr Holmes a Court and claimed his tweets and those of his followers were “aggressive” and “stressful”.

In one tweet on January 16 last year, Mr Holmes a Court said of Ms Lights: “@ziontree blocked me as soon as I tried to talk science with her. shame.”

He referred to Ms Lights in a tweet on October 25 last year, saying she “has been advocating for nuclear for about a year and hasn’t done her homework”.

 

Mr Holmes a Court is prolific on Twitter. He has had many spats over climate issues, especially with Liberals such as Jane Hume and Sarah Henderson.

After more than a year of no direct comment, Ms Lights referred to Mr Holmes a Court in a tweet after The Australian reported on April 26 that his financial interests in renewable energy could benefit if independent candidates backed by his Climate 200 group were elected this month and succeeded in speeding up a switch from coal to renewables.

She tweeted: “This person hates nuclear energy and tried to harass me into not talking about it last year. Now it becomes clear.”

Mr Holmes a Court said Ms Lights was an accomplished science communicator, “but unfortunately not an expert in the area she currently advocates for”

He said he told her he was concerned that she was promoting bad science. “I suggested scientifically valid and positive messaging that she might consider using. Ms Lights rejected my advice and promptly blocked me,” he said.

Also disputing Ms Lights, Mr Holmes a Court said he liked nuclear energy, was a member of the Australian Nuclear Association and had spent hundreds of hours researching the subject. He said he had intended to help Ms Lights improve her communications, not silence her.