ANY word that comes out of Boris Johnson's mouth cannot be trusted after he avoided last night's climate debate, the Scottish Greens have said.
Speaking at a demonstration in George Square, Glasgow, today, co-leader Patrick Harvie criticised the Prime Minister after he opted out of the Channel 4 debate.
The Labour, LibDem, SNP, Plaid Cymru and Green leader all took part in the debate.
Michael Gove and Johnson's father, Stanley, had turned up at Channel 4 HQ asking to be included in the programme instead. The broadcaster would not accept them in Johnson's place, and instead replaced him - and the Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage - with a melting ice sculpture.
READ MORE: Election: Praise for Nicola Sturgeon in C4 climate debate
Harvie said: "I think it's a bad sign the Conservatives couldn't be bothered sending their leader to the climate debate.
"I'm not sure he would have added anything and most people I think know that any word that comes out of Boris Johnson's mouth cannot be trusted, cannot be believed.
He added: "This is someone that said he would lie down in front of the bulldozers to stop the Heathrow expansion.
"He was lying then and he's lying about pretty much everything else that he says.
"The challenge is to change our politics, not to double down on the toxic, hard-right agenda that Boris Johnson represents."
Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer (below) said the no-show was not only embarrassing for Johnson but for the UK as a whole.
"I remember when I was at primary school there was always that one kid who said, 'my daddy's going to do you in'," he said.
"That's what Boris Johnson actually tried to do last night, he sent his dad to try and do a climate debate for him.
"The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom wouldn't turn up to debate the other political leaders on the most pressing issue that our whole species faces."
He added: "It was embarrassing for him but it's also embarrassing for the country and it showed that the Tories not only have no real answers on tackling the climate crisis, their policies and the corporations they support and are funded by, are the ones causing the crisis.
"They are the crisis and that's why we need to get rid of this Tory Government and replace it with a Government with a collection of political parties and a movement who will actually tackle this crisis."
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