Good Morning Britain weather presenter Laura Tobin has hit back at an Australian MP who branded her an “ignorant Pommy” after she called him a “climate denier with his head in the sand”.
Ms Tobin told Sydney Liberal MP Craig Kelly that “ignorant could not be further from the truth” as she highlighted her distinguished career as a meteorologist who had spent four years with the RAF.
The pair became embroiled in a row on Good Morning Britain during a discussion about the Australian bushfires.
Mr Kelly, a longstanding critic of climate change action, had previously spoken to the BBC to claim there was “no link” between climate change and Australia’s crippling drought as well as pegging blame for the devastating bushfires on a lack of hazard reduction.
On GMB, he was lambasted as a “denier” and “disgraceful” by Ms Tobin and presenters Piers Morgan and Susannah Ried.
Ms Tobin added: “You have the second highest carbon emission on earth and you are burying your head in the sand. You're not a climate sceptic - you're a climate denier.”
Following the exchange, Mr Kelly wrote in a Facebook post that was later deleted: “Oh no! Ignorant Pommy weather girl calls me a ‘climate change denier’”.
In response, Ms Tobin tweeted: “I’m a Meteorologist. A degree in Physics & Meteorology. 4 years as an aviation forecaster at the RAF. 12 years as a broadcast meteorologist. Attended a @WMO Climate course last year & up to date with all the science. #NotAWeatherGirl #IKnowWhatImTalkingAbout #DoYou #ClimateChange”.
She later appeared on GMB, reading out a definition of ignorant and listing her academic achievements.
She said: “Ignorant could not further from the truth - I have no agenda I was just telling the facts and I was so infuriated by his lack of understanding.”
Speaking to the ABC on Tuesday Mr Kelly claimed Morgan “didn’t want to hear the facts” and said “the weather girl had no idea what she was talking about”.
But, he later apologised to Ms Tobin in an interview with News Corp, saying: “I apologise to Ms Tobin to referring to her as the weather girl, as I understood that this was her position on the TV show.
“However I now understand that she is a meteorologist who reads the weather for that station.
