Extinction Rebellion leader exposed as eco-hypocrite who has diesel car & buys imported food in non-recyclable packaging

A LEADER of climate protesters Extinction Rebellion was last night exposed as a diesel-driving eco­-hypocrite who buys imported food.

Gail Bradbrook was shopped by a member of the public who saw her stocking up on Waitrose goods that had travelled thousands of air miles.

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It came as Just Stop Oil, an XR offshoot, refused to rule out targeting the King’s Coronation next month.

Yobs from the group, which caused havoc at the World Snooker Championship this week, have threatened to do “whatever is non-violently necessary”.

Bradbrook was labelled a “towering hypocrite” after her eco-flouting trip to Waitrose in Stroud, Gloucs.

The 50-year-old, whose XR group has caused traffic chaos, drove there in a polluting 1.5litre diesel car.

The mum then loaded up with goods from Chile, Vietnam, Spain, Cyprus and Italy, swathed in plastic 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.

“But at least she wasn’t held up on her way home by idiots who glued themselves to the road.”

Bradbrook, who co-founded Extinction Rebellion, or XR, in 2016, was spotted by another shopper who took pictures of the trolley on her phone.

It was loaded with:

• GREEN tea from Vietnam and India which travelled 5,700 miles, according to the foodmiles.com website;
• WAITROSE Essential green grapes from Chile in a non­recyclable plastic bag, which were flown 7,200 miles;
• UNWAXED lemons from Spain in a non-recyclable nylon net bag with polyethylene label, which came 800 miles;
• ESSENTIAL red grapefruit from Cyprus — 2,000 miles,
• DUCHY Organic oranges from Spain in a non-recyclable net bag with polyethylene label — 800 miles, and;
• WAITROSE Essential kiwi fruits from Italy in a non-recyclable plastic bag — 900 miles.

Also in her shopping were Quorn vegan chicken free slices from the UK in a plastic tray covered with non-recyclable film.

Finally, there were Duchy Organic chicken wings in a plastic tray from the UK with non­recyclable film and label.

Flights carrying her buys would have pumped carbon dioxide and carbon into the atmosphere.

The “food miles” from flown and shipped produce generates three billion tonnes of CO2 every year.

Transporting food around the globe accounts for around six per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, scientists believe.

Out-of-season fruit and vegetables generate the highest emissions as they often need to be refrigerated while being transported.

Much of the packaging in eco campaigner Bradbrook’s trolley was made from non-recyclable plastics which end up on landfill sites.

To cap it all, her 2013 motor would poison the air with 119g of CO2 and 0.357g of carbon monoxide for every kilometre.

She appears to have paid little heed to making sustainable shopping choices — while warning the world is doomed unless consumers change their ways.

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The eagle-eyed shopper who spotted her, a 38-year-old web developer, told The Sun: “She was doing everything Extinction Rebellion tells us not to do.

“Buying fruit flown halfway round the world in non-recyclable packaging then driving home in a diesel motor — what a towering hypocrite.

“But at least she wasn’t held up on her way home by idiots who had glued themselves to the road.”

Tory MP Chris Loder told The Sun: “The contents of this woman’s shopping trolley speaks volumes about the hypocrisy of people who think nothing of causing chaos.

“It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so predictable.

“Extinction Rebellion’s leaders clearly live by the mantra, ‘Do as I say, not as I do’.”

Twice-married Bradbrook co-founded XR after returning from a psychedelic retreat to Costa Rica where she took mind-bending drugs “in search of clarity”.

She split from Simon Bramwell, also a co-founder of the group — and recently moved out of an end-terrace home in Stroud after clashes with neighbours.

Many opposed her views and complained about the state of her overgrown “rewilded” garden amid jibes about her choice of a diesel car.

Bradbrook said previously that she had to buy it owing to a lack of public transport and the high cost of electric vehicles.

The mum added that she needed the car to drive her sons to sports matches.

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She has masterminded disruptive protests, claiming mass civil disobedience is the only way to save the planet from climate change.

Demos have included London bridge blockades in 2018 and incidents in which activists have glued themself to roads, sparking traffic chaos and public fury.

XR cost the taxpayer-funded Met Police £7.5million in 2019 alone while causing carbon-generating gridlock costing firms fortunes.

The expense to the public purse has continued to spiral as road users, including emergency services and raging commuters, have found themselves stranded in tailbacks.

More mayhem is expected from today when the group leads a mass demo of eco groups dubbed “The Big One” which threatens to besiege the Houses of Parliament.

Security has been stepped up across the capital as XR estimates a coalition of 100,000 protesters will descend on the centre of London over the next four days.

An Extinction Rebellion spokeswoman said last night: “We’re getting on with the real work of building a mass movement that creates a better society, putting people and nature before corporate profit and division.”