The BBC was accused of hypocrisy after its Climate Editor jetted off to Spain to report on its heatwave – which he blamed on carbon emissions.
The Corporation repeatedly refused to say if Justin Rowlatt, 57, had made the 1,800 mile round trip to Spain by plane.
But our exclusive picture shows the moment he arrived back at his £2.8 million north London home on Thursday afternoon – with Iberia Airlines bag tags attached to his backpack.
Tory MP Craig Mackinlay accused the BBC of ‘sheer hypocrisy’.
He added: ‘If they’re so convinced this is all to do with global warming, surely they could have used reporters already in Spain to do the job rather than clocking up more air miles, which supposedly just adds to the problem.’
Mr Rowlatt reported for News at Ten from a Spanish beach as temperatures across the south of Europe soared above 40C.
He warned breathlessly of the need to cut carbon emissions to stop climate change, adding: ‘Unless we begin to reduce our use of fossil fuels quickly, we simply aren’t tackling the real problem.’
Yet it is understood he then boarded a plane at Alicante airport on Thursday morning.
He arrived home in London at 2pm – hours after reporting for the BBC in Spain.
The return flight will have produced an estimated 0.32 tons of carbon emissions, equivalent to driving 1,550 miles in a petrol car.
Conservative MP Sir John Hayes said: ‘You can’t fly if you are going to be a climate zealot.
‘But now we have the BBC Climate Editor jet-setting to Spain to tell us that we should not be jetting anywhere because it is too hot because of emissions.’
Read More: BBC Climate Editor back home
