LONDON: A video of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak running off the stage and being rushed out of the room by aides during Monday’s panel at COP27 has gone viral on the internet with people speculating about the reasons for the abrupt exit.
A video posted by Leo Hickman, journalist and director at Carbon Brief UK, shows Sunak being approached by his aides on stage before being escorted out of the room.
“UK prime minister @RishiSunak has just been rushed out of the room by his aides during the middle of the launch for forests partnership at #COP27,” said Hickman in a tweet.
Sunak was on stage for a climate change event when his aides interrupted him, according to Hickman, who posted a video of the incident. In quick succession, two of his aides came and persuaded Sunak to leave the event.
“About 2 mins before he left, an aide came onto stage and was whispering in his ear for more than a minute…there was a discussion going on about, it seems, whether to leave at that moment. Sunak stayed but another aide made decision to go back to him and urge him to leave,” he added.
People took to social media to speculate on the possible reasons for the sudden exit, ranging from Sunak having had a bad meal to a national emergency.
One user took to Twitter to poke fun at the recent events that have stormed the British government in the last few months, writing: “The UK Govt was in danger of looking remotely competent. Normal service resumed.”
The UK Govt was in danger of looking remotely competent. Normal service resumed.
— Miles King #ditchtheREULbill (@MilesKing10)
Although no official statement from Downing Street has been issued to explain the reason behind the PM’s dramatic departure, it is widely assumed that he left early to prepare for a keynote climate change speech later in the afternoon.
Arab News tried to get an official statement from No. 10, but no comment was received at the time of publishing.
In his speech, the British PM urged countries to deliver on theGlasgow Climate Pact and reiterated the UK’s commitment to donating £11.6 billion ($13.3 billion) to a climate change fund.
Sunak also stated that the UK would triple the amount of money set aside for the Adaptation Fund, a capital used to finance concrete adaptation projects in developing countries, to £1.5 billion by 2025.
Sunak, who only last week said he would attend COP27, went on to echo the words of French President Emmanuel Macron by saying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine must not be used as an excuse to row back on climate change promises.
