Extinction Rebellion protesters seen queuing up at McDonald’s (Picture: @JuliaHB1/Twitter)

Extinction Rebellion protesters have defended themselves after being spotted eating at McDonald’s.

The environmentalists have been criticised for eating at the ‘epicentre of mass produced food’ while calling for urgent action on climate change.

McDonald’s is one of the largest buyers of beef in the world, an industry that was targeted by Extinction Rebellion vegans yesterday.

Meat traders were forced from the famous Smithfield Market as activists covered their stalls with fruit and vegetables and shouted ‘beef equals grief’.


A Metro.co.uk reporter interviewed several protesters outside the McDonald’s on Whitehall this morning.

One activist defended his decision to order a veggie burger for breakfast, saying the criticism and ‘demonisation’ of enviro-protesters ‘does not invalidate the facts of climate change’.



Javi, 28, told Metro.co.uk: ‘Everyone protesting here is hypocritical because we’re all living in this society.

Extinction Rebellion protester eats a veggie burger for breakfast (Picture: w8media)

Ravi said criticism of him eating at McDonald’s ‘does not invalidate the facts of climate change’ (Picture: w8media)

Another Extinction Rebellion protester waits outside with her coffee (Picture: w8media)

Extinction Rebellion protesters Rachel, 21, with her McDonald’s coffee and friend, Jack, 24

‘We run on cars, we run on petrol, we run on buses.

‘Even if you eat only vegan, everything has an impact in the environment.’

‘How far do you want me to go before I’m not criticised by you?’

Jack, 24, and Rachel, 21, have been here overnight and came to McDonald’s for a morning coffee.

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Jack said ‘we shouldn’t be buying anything from McDonald’s’ but reasoned that a coffee is not ‘supplying the demand of animal meat and therefore not directly contributing to animal slaughter.’

Rachel, 21, who works at Domino’s, said she used to be vegan but has gone back to being a vegetarian.

She ordered a black coffee and admitted that ‘it’s not ideal’ and she did feel ‘guilty about it’.

She added: ‘I think there is a real movement coming, particularly among young people.

‘I know people who aren’t vegan or vegetarian but are still helping the environment in other ways.’

A woman who was glued to the floor outside the Department for Transport was handed a Section 14 notice (Picture: PA)

A sign aimed at the Prime Minister is created on Whitehall (Picture: Reuters)

Police woke up protesters at 7.30am to tell them they were going to be arrested (Picture: Reuters)

Protesters were told they were allowed to gather at Trafalgar Square (Picture: Reuters)

Piers Morgan slammed Extinction Rebellion’s supposed ‘hypocrisy’ for eating at McDonald’s, and Tory MP Ben Bradley said the ‘lack of self-awareness is absolutely staggering’.

While political journalist Ash Sarkar showed the protesters her support, saying they want the government to stop climate change ‘not Happy Meals’.

Extinction Rebellion are gearing up for two weeks of protests at sites across central London, and have claimed the police have seized some of their catering supplies.

A Metro.co.uk reporter witnessed protesters dishing out free vegetarian curry from a cool box outside Downing Street yesterday, while others handed out croissants.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed more than 300 protesters had been arrested in just one day of action in London.

The force said: ‘There continues to be a 24 hour policing plan in place.

‘As of 00:01hrs this morning there have been 319 arrests in relation to the Extinction Rebellion protests.’

Despite police warnings and the risk of arrest, many protesters had no plans to move their tents to Trafalgar Square.

An activist in his twenties said: ‘They came round and told us that we should be moving on. I don’t think we are going to move on. It’s not a risk if you know you’re going to be arrested. It’s something I’ll do if I need to.



‘We’ve got extremely good legal support and it’s a very well set-up organisation so I feel like I’ll be supported all through the way. An arrest doesn’t mean a conviction.’

Another young activist added that there was no pressure from the movement to protest in a particular way.

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