A British radio host hoped to humiliate a climate change activist — and ended up humiliating himself

In the U.K., the group Insulate Britain has been trying to draw attention to the climate change crisis by blocking roads during its protests — a move that inspired U.K. Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps to seek an injunction banning the group from England's "entire strategic road network." British radio host Mike Graham hoped to humiliate Insulate spokesman Cameron Ford when he featured him as a guest on his show on Tuesday, October 26, but the only one Ford ended up humiliating was himself.

The tension between the two was obvious when Graham, in a condescending tone, asked Ford, "What are you glued to, Cameron?" — and Ford, sounding equally condescending, responded, "Just your screen, unfortunately."

It went downhill from there. When Graham asked Ford what he did for a living, the climate activist replied that he was a carpenter. Graham obviously thought he had found a way to humiliate Ford, saying, "A carpenter — how safe is that for the climate?" And Ford explained, "Well, I work with timber, which is a much more sustainable material rather than concrete."

Graham asked Ford, "You work with trees that have been cut down…. How is it sustainable if you're killing trees?" — to which Ford responded, "Because it's regenerative: You can grow trees…. You can't grow concrete." And Graham replied, "You can" before ending the segment and saying, "Cheerio! That was Cameron. He grows trees, cuts them down, and then makes things from them. I don't think I ever want to talk to any of those people."

Here are some of the tweets mocking Graham for saying that one can grow concrete: