By Dan Wood
Arson attacks carried out on 5G masts despite claims linking 5G to COVID-19 have been being widely condemned as Police continue to look into various cases around the country.
A phone mast providing mobile connectivity to the Nightingale Hospital in Birmingham was one of the few phone masts subjected to attacks during the Easter weekend.
As we touched upon earlier this week, many of those in the scientific community have dubbed the theories surrounding 5G as ‘complete rubbish’.
Since the beginning of April, Police across the UK have received over 20 reports of telecommunications infrastructure being set on fire or otherwise vandalised.
One case is unconfirmed, but all cases are under investigation.
Vodafone chief executive Nick Jeffery said it was “deeply disappointing” to learn that arsonists are still attacking masts.
He said: “Burning down masts means damaging important national infrastructure.
“In practice, this means families not being able to say a final goodbye to their loved ones; hard-working doctors, nurses and police officers not being able to phone their kids, partners or parents for a comforting chat.”
Mobile UK, the trade body which represents all network providers, said careless talk could cause untold damage.
These comments came following comments made by ‘This Morning’ presenter, Eamonn Holmes.
More than 400 complaints were received by Ofcom due to the comments from the presenter, and they said their comments would be assessed as a priority.
The presenter’s comments came during Monday’s show after fellow host, Alice Beer, branded the theories as “ridiculous” and “incredibly stupid”.
Holmes said: “I totally agree with everything you are saying but what I don’t accept is mainstream media immediately slapping that down as not true when they don’t know it’s not true.
“No-one should attack or damage or do anything like that but it’s very easy to say it is not true because it suits the state narrative.”
He added: “That’s all I would say, as someone with an inquiring mind.”
Holmes attempted to “clarify” his comments on Tuesday, saying: “Every theory relating to such a connection has been proven to be false and we would like to emphasise that
“However, many people are rightly concerned and looking for answers and that’s simply what I was trying to do, to impart yesterday
“But for the avoidance of any doubt, I want to make it clear there’s no scientific evidence to substantiate any of those 5G theories. I hope that clears that up now.”
National medical director on NHS England, Prof Steve Powis, has previously called theories linking 5G to the spread of COVID-19 the “worst kind of fake news.”
A spokesman for Mobile UK, which reported the 20 suspected arson attacks, said: “Theories being spread about 5G are baseless and are not grounded in credible scientific theory.
“Mobile operators are dedicated to keeping the UK connected, and careless talk could cause untold damage.
“Continuing attacks on mobile infrastructure risks lives and at this challenging time the UK’s critical sectors must be able to focus all their efforts fighting this pandemic.”