This is an incredible video of Michael Gove rummaging through David Attenborough’s bins in the 90s Footage has emerged of the environment secretary rooting through celebs’ bins for a Channel Four programme in the 90s

Extraordinary footage has emerged of a young Michael Gove rooting through the rubbish bins of David Attenborough and Sting to determine whether or not they are committed to saving the planet.

The former journalist spent time in the 1990s working on various current affairs programmes for radio and television, before eventually becoming a Conservative MP and is the current environment secretary.

He was quoted on Sunday saying that laws should be changed to allow people to scavenge for goods on local waste dumps.

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And, according to the 1992 clip from Channel Four’s A Stab in the Dark, he is an old hand when it comes to rifling through rubbish.

Rooting through domestic detritus

In the footage, a decidedly young looking Mr Gove – who would have been around 25 at the time – is seen rummaging through bin bags on a doorstep.

He then turns to the camera and, speaking in a Scottish accent which has since almost completely faded, said: “The Earth Summit has been billed as the last chance to save the world, but for many celebrities, going green is the last chance to save their career.

Extraordinary clip of @michaelgove rifling through David Attenborough’s rubbish from 1992 to see if he’s a ‘fairweather friend of the earth’ – also featuring @friends_earth ! pic.twitter.com/KEJMibw6Pt — Guy Shrubsole (@guyshrubsole) October 6, 2018

“I have been rooting through the domestic detritus of Sting and a number of other green celebrities to see if their conversion is sincere or if they are just fair weather friends of the Earth.”

The programme then cuts to a scene of Mr Gove and Friends of the Earth recycling expert Penny Walker preparing to sift through the various bags to assess how “green” they are – starting with David Attenborough.

The video clip released finishes just as Ms Walker is about to give her verdict and answer Mr Gove’s question.

Gove wants people to be able to root through rubbish

The clip was rooted out by Friends of the Earth campaigner Guy Shrubsole, who then shared it on Twitter.

Mr Gove, who was appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Rural Affairs and Food in 2017, said to a meeting that he wants all councils in the UK to allow people to pick through rejected appliances to find things they can recycle.

The Sunday Times reported that he wanted a change in the law to help reduce the amount of waste that the country is producing.

“We must reduce the amount of material we waste,” he told a meeting. “At the moment if I take something to the dump for which I have no use but which you could happily have picked up and reused then you are not allowed to.

“It is not an answer to everything but greater reuse is one way to ensure that pressure on resources diminishes. I do not want to go full ‘Good Life’ but resource efficiency is good for the economy.”