LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson skipped an important televised election debate on climate change and was replaced with an ice sculpture bearing the logo of the Conservative Party.
Apart from Johnson, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage too gave the debate a miss and he was also represented by the dripping ice sculpture with his party's symbol imprinted on it.
Johnson's ruling Conservative Party had lodged a complaint to the UK's broadcasting watchdog Ofcom, saying its offer of having minister Michael Gove participating in the debate in place of Johnson on Channel 4 was rejected, and the decision "effectively seeks to deprive the Conservative Party of any representation and attendance at the Channel 4 News debate," CNN reported.
The debate saw Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, Liberal Democrat Jo Swinson and the heads of the UK's other main parties outlining their plans on tackling climate change ahead of next month's snap election.
Explaining the reason for installing ice sculptures, Channel 4 said that it was intended to "represent the emergency on planet earth."
Defending his absence from the TV debate, Farage said that he skipped it because "Brexit is the defining issue of our age and the fact that Channel 4 does not want to discuss it speaks volumes about this broadcaster and its Remain position."
The incident took place hours after the European Parliament voted to declare a climate emergency.
Johnson's predecessor Theresa May had also stayed away from taking part in a TV debate during the 2017 polls. The move led to Conservative Party losing seats in the election.
The UK is slated to go to polls on December 12. While Johnson enjoys a healthy lead as per opinion polls, Labour Party, however, has been closing on the gap in recent days.