Mr Broccoli drives a gas guzzler: Vegan activist who got into hot water with Piers Morgan after he was arrested as giant vegetable is a white van man

• Activist Roland Everson, 46, revealed to be driver of diesel-guzzling Mercedes 
• One of his neighbours said: ‘Sounds like he has the brains of a vegetable’
• Van pumps out the same amount of CO2 as return flight from London to Sydney 

A vegan activist who was arrested while dressed as broccoli and got into hot water with Piers Morgan has been outed as a white van man who drives a diesel-guzzling Mercedes. 

Mr Broccoli, recently revealed to be 46-year-old Roland Everson, is a member of Animal Rebellion – the vegan offshoot of Extinction Rebellion. 

But a neighbour of the activist has divulged that he is the driver of a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and has driven thousands of miles setting up glamping pods at festivals. 

A vegan activist who was arrested while dressed as broccoli and got into hot water with Piers Morgan has been outed as a white van man who drives a diesel-guzzling Mercedes

Mr Broccoli, recently revealed to be 46-year-old Roland Everson, is a member of Animal Rebellion – the vegan offshoot of Extinction Rebellion

His van pumps out around 2.7 tonnes of CO2 each year, leaving him with a carbon footprint that is the same as a return flight from London to Sydney, according to the Sun. 

One neighbour, in Badminton, Gloucestershire, told the Sun: ‘Sounds like he has the brains of a vegetable.’ 

But a neighbour of the activist has divulged that he is the driver of a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and has driven thousands of miles setting up glamping pods at festivals

Mr Everson also uses the equally strange moniker ‘Lunchy Munchy’ and is a senior member of the ‘Friendsnotfood’ group in the West Country. 

He has been campaigning about animal welfare at farms supplying pork and beef, and protesting outside McDonald’s restaurants and Morrisons stores accusing them of murder and claims on one occasion he was bitten by an angry supermarket security guard near Bristol.

The protester, who has never used his real name on his Facebook page and YouTube channel, was unmasked as Mr Broccoli by his friend Dan Kimble, who was arrested with him in London this week while dressed as a pea. 

Piers Morgan hammered Mr Everson on live TV after he refused to explain why a plant-based diet would save the planet.

Mr Everson appeared on Good Morning Britain dressed as the vegetable, but refused to elaborate on why viewers up and down the country should give up meat, and simply said instead: ‘I’m just a humble broccoli. I just grow’.

He was blasted by presenters Piers and Susanna Reid who accused him of not taking climate change seriously.

Piers told him: ‘Had you made a coherent, powerful, science-based argument, you could have made a real impact.’

His van pumps out around 2.7 tonnes of CO2 each year, leaving him with a carbon footprint that is the same as a return flight from London to Sydney, according to the Sun

At one point, the exchange was interrupted by Mr Everson who said he had to take a phone call – pulling out a banana from his pocket and answering it like a phone.

Explaining why he did this, he told the paper: ‘Have you ever seen an interview with Piers Morgan? You can tell Piers it gets dark at night and he will shout you down. We decided not to let him do that to me.’  

A video of him being apprehended by three Met Police officers on Monday, as he carried a sign saying ‘I’m locally-sourced and environmentally-friendly’ and shouted ‘give peas a chance’, has been viewed millions of times online.

He was arrested under the Public Order Act but was later released without charge.

Mr Everson also uses the equally strange moniker ‘Lunchy Munchy’ and is a senior member of the ‘Friendsnotfood’ group in the West Country

In a bizarre exchange on the ITV programme this week he was repeatedly asked what his aims were and whether he ‘identifies as a broccoli’.

Mr Broccoli simply replied: ‘I am Mr Broccoli Head. I’m just a humble broccoli. I’ve always been a piece of broccoli.’

Quizzed on what he wanted the government and big businesses to do about climate change, he quipped: ‘We are in extremely hot water environmentally speaking. It’s going to go pear shaped.’

He was slammed by Piers, who he repeatedly referred to as ‘Peas’, and was told he ‘didn’t know the facts’.

The GMB anchor said: ‘Why should I listen to you? You’ve brought London to a standstill for two weeks, we give you the chance to come on national television to present your case and you sit there dressed like a broccoli.’

Susanna fumed: ‘It’s a serious point. You’re not going to win anyone over dressed as a broccoli.’

Asked whether he ‘practices what he preaches’ and has electronic gadgets that pollute the environment, Mr Everson replied: ‘I just grow. I’m just a broccoli. I don’t have electricity.’

But a picture of him posted on social media shows he got a taxi to the ITV studios to take part in the show – and not public transport.

It comes after Piers blasted Extinction Rebellion co-founder Skeena Rathor for getting a chauffeured car to the west London studios when she appeared on the show last week.

After advocating a plant-based diet, the vegan activist was asked why it would save planet, but couldn’t provide an answer.

He said ‘I’m not a scientist’ and ‘a plant based food system is great for the environment’, before his fellow Animal Rebellion activist chimed in: ‘My client is just a broccoli, it’s very easy to cherry pick the science. It’s easy to talk about individual change.’ 

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