Animal Rebellion protesters pour out milk at Harrods and Waitrose to demand ‘plant-based future’

Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly also targeted by vegan activists

Animal Rebellion pour out milk in a Waitrose in Edinburgh (PA)

Climate protestors have poured milk over shop floors, displays and products throughout the UK, including Harrods and some Waitrose branches.

Animal Rebellion coorindated the action in stores also including Whole Foods and Marks and Spencer in London, Manchester, Norwich and Edinburgh just before midday on Saturday.

Videos of activists pouring milk have been shared widely on social media, with a clip of protestors drenching display cabinets in Harrods’ food hall in Knightsbridge stirring up particular online attention.

Another group was filmed emptying milk bottles on to the floor and across a table laden with cheese in Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly.

A third group was captured pouring milk onto the aisle floors in a Waitrose in Edinburgh as the store’s staff watched on.

In response to the action, foreign secretary James Cleverly referred to the protestors, and those who threw a can of soup over Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ on Friday, as “adult-toddlers”

Taking to Twitter on Friday evening, Mr Cleverly wrote: “Let’s stop giving these attention seeking adult-toddlers the coverage they clearly crave.

“I’m just wondering what the reaction would be if a couple of black boys from Lewisham had thrown soup on a Van Gogh or poured milk all over the floor in Harrods,” he wrote.

Animal Rebellion said it is calling for a plant-based future and highlighting the need to support farmers in transitioning to a sustainable plant-based food system.

Lou Hadden, a charity worker from Herefordshire who joined the action at Fortnum and Mason, said: “This is not how I imagined spending my weekend.

“Unfortunately, this disruption is necessary to get those in power to listen to the academics at Oxford, Harvard and the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

“The world’s best climate and land scientists are calling for the transition to a plant-based food system.

“We need bold and decisive politics at this time, not the horror show we currently see.”

Meanwhile, Skylar Sharples, an international development graduate from Bristol and one of the protesters at Harrods, said: “Supporters of Animal Rebellion are back acting because (Prime Minister) Liz Truss and Ranil Jayawardena (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) are again deciding to ignore calls to start building a better future.

“A plant-based future would see a beautiful world for us all, thriving with nature and life.

“The steps to properly support farmers in this transition need to begin now.”