The co-founder of Extinction Rebellion has been branded a ‘towering hypocrite’ today after she was caught buying imported food in non-recyclable plastic packaging at the supermarket before driving it home in her diesel car.
As the eco-protest group begins four days of protests across London on Friday, Gail Bradbrook was spotted stocking up on food that racked up more than 17,000 air miles before landing in her shopping trolley at Waitrose in Gloucestershire.
Bradbrook was pictured grabbing Vietnamese tea, Chilean grapes and items from Spain, Cyprus and Italy. She also drove to and from Waitrose in Stroud in a diesel 1.5-litre car.
The 50-year-old activist co-founded the environmental group in 2018 with ex-boyfriend Simon Bramwell.
Extinction Rebellion says ‘every part of society must act now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions’ as part of its core three demands. Yet her shopping items, which came from three different continents, were bound in plastic, nylon and polythene.
An onlooker said: ‘Buying fruit flown halfway round the world in non-recyclable packaging then driving home in a diesel motor — what a towering hypocrite.
‘She was doing everything Extinction Rebellion tells us not to do,’ the onlooker told the Sun.
“But at least she wasn’t held up on her way home by idiots who glued themselves to the road.”
The activist also walked out with Quorn vegan chicken free slices and Duchy Organic chicken wings – both covered with non-recyclable film.
A fifth of all food-related greenhouse gas emissions come from transporting edible products across the planet. These are even higher for fruit and vegetables that are out of season – and need to be refrigerated as they are brought over.
It comes as the eco-mob are plotting a huge protest in London from Friday to Monday, with as many as 30,000 supporters coming to the capital.
XR’s planned four-day protest is supported by more than 200 organisations, including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the PCS union.
And it is just a week after militant animal rights activists Animal Rising stormed the Grand National at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool after posing as racegoers, delaying the race as they were tackled by officials and officers.
Just Stop Oil activists Edred Whittingham, 25, and his comrade Margaret Reid, 52, on Monday forced a World Championship snooker match at the Crucible to be cancelled after he leaped on a table and threw orange powder all over it. She failed to pull the same stunt after the referee stopped her.
Bradbrook has previously hit headlines after causing £27,500 of damage to the Department for Transport building when she smashed a bullet-proof window with a chisel and hammer in 2019.
