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The Extinction Rebellion leaders: Jet-setter Robin Boardman, a Buddhist teacher and a yoga instructor

Leading Extinction Rebellion activist Robin Boardman-Pattinson says that air travel should only be used in emergencies, but has enjoyed multiple skiing holidays in recent years - Facebook
Leading Extinction Rebellion activist Robin Boardman-Pattinson says that air travel should only be used in emergencies, but has enjoyed multiple skiing holidays in recent years - Facebook

A leading Extinction Rebellion activist who said that “air travel should only be used in emergencies” lives a jet-set lifestyle, taking skiing holidays, visiting global landmarks and enjoying walks along palm-tree lined paths.

Robin Boardman-Pattinson walked out of a television interview after being branded “incompetent, middle-class and self indulgent” by Sky’s Adam Boulton, but The Telegraph can reveal that climate change is not the only cause which he fights for.

The 21-year-old is a serial protestor, who has railed against Dominos Pizza, Bristol Magistrates court, Toby Young and Bromley Council.

He’s also campaigned against the expansion of Heathrow airport, supported Muslim women wearing Hijabs and Niqabs and asked for retail space in Bristol turned into a slave trade museum.

Worryingly, he also shared a post which calls the allegations of anti-semitism in the Labour party “a massive smear campaign against Jeremy Corbyn by the Netanyahuite supporters in the party and wider media/society.”

Robin Boardman-Pattinson holding an orange flare - Credit: Facebook
Mr Boardman-Pattinson, far right, has been arrested for protesting before. Credit: Facebook

But while Mr Boardman-Pattinson rallies against climate change, he has taken at least three skiing holidays in recent years, and has posed for photographs in front of the leaning tower of Pisa. He was unavailable for comment.

But Mr Boardman-Pattinson is not the only protestor to have a coulourful campaign history.

Roger Hallam, who organised the Extinction Rebellion demonstrations has previously hosted at sit-down protest outside the London School of Economics demanding that they pay their cleaning staff a higher wage.

The 52-year-old is apparently researching a PhD in effective radical campaigning and once went on a two-week hunger strike in protest at King’s College London’s investments in fossil fuels, which they then agreed to phase out by the end of 2022.

Mr Hallam was keen to show his support of a spraypaint protest at the offices of The Sun in London Bridge, while he has also urged friends to sign a petition to lower rental costs for students at University College London.

In what he called “taking back our future”, Mr Hallam hosted a huge picnic in Green Park shortly after the referendum, to work out how to “stop Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson hijacking our democracy.”

Climate activists on top of a Dockland Light Railway at Canary Wharf station in east London  - Credit:  Kirsty O'Connor/PA 
Cathy Eastburn, on top of the train carriage, is a yoga instructor, while Mark Ovland, in a yellow vest, is a Buddhist teacher Credit: Kirsty O'Connor/PA

On Tuesday, stood on top of a DLR train carriage at Canary Wharf station was mother-of-two Cathy Eastburn. Another popular figure on the rebel circuit, the charity worker was arrested during International Petroleum Week for her protestations at big energy companies.

Also employed as a yoga instructor, Ms Eastburn’s social media feeds show her attending demonstrations against David Cameron and Donald Trump, taking part in the Women’s march and the current climate change protests. Further back, are idyllic images from holidays in Paris, Budapest and Indonesian islands.

Gluing his hands to the doors of the DLR, causing disruption to thousands of city workers was Buddhist teacher Mark Ovland. A cult hero for baring his backside in Extinction Rebellion’s naked protest in Parliament, he has previously held a sit-in protest in Barclays bank in Piccadilly circus, urging them to stop investment in fracking firms.

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