Jeremy Corbyn has been branded a hypocrite after it emerged he goes to work in a chauffeur-driven gas guzzling diesel car – despite proclaiming himself an environmentalist.
The Labour leader takes the seven-seater people carrier to work in Parliament even though it is just a short tube journey away from his Islington home.
The revelation comes after his own Labour-run council last week called for diesel cars to be banned because they pump out deadly toxins.
And it has been claimed the Labour leader left the Ford Galaxy waiting on a double yellow line outside his north London home for 40 minutes on Tuesday before making the six-mile journey to Westminster.
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen last night accused the Labour leader of ‘breathtaking hypocrisy’.
Jeremy Corbyn has been branded a hypocrite after it emerged he goes to work in a chauffeur-driven gas guzzling diesel car – despite proclaiming himself an environmentalist.
The Labour leader takes the seven-seater people carrier to work in Parliament even though it is just a short tube journey away from his Islington home.
He told The Sunday Express: ‘He’s like one of the old Soviet leaders, riding around in his Zil while the rest of his comrades are on bicycles,’ he said.
‘Once again it’s a case of do as I say, not as I do. It’s clear Mr Corbyn is one of the few not the many whom he lectures.’
Last week Islington Borough Council and the neihbouring Labour-run authority Hackney, proposed a ban on diesel cars with drivers flouting the air pollution crackdown facing £130 fines.
Mr Corbyn has spoken out against polluting diesel cars which he warns are creating air pollution which is killing children.
The DVLA database reveals Mr Corbyn’s mode of transport emits a hefty 189g of carbon dioxide, putting it in the fourth highest vehicle tax band.
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen last night accused the Labour leader of ‘breathtaking hypocrisy’ (file pic)
And pictures published in the newspaper show that the chauffeur driven car arrived at the Labour leader’s house just before 9am on January 30.
But the MP left the driver waiting for 40 minutes on double yellow lines as he remained inside his terrace home.
A traffic warden in a high-visibility vest approached but immediately appeared to recognise the car and did not issue a ticket.
Mr Corbyn eventually left home just after 9.32am, but headed off towards the shops before coming back to the car five minutes later, it was reported.
Mr Corbyn was offered a chauffeur-driven car by the Government Car Service when he became Leader of the Opposition in 2015.
But he is not obliged to use it and ministers have turned down using their cars previously.
Former Tory MP Andrew Percy criticised the move at the time, saying: ‘Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters on Twitter are trolling people about privilege but at the first sniff of a perk, Jeremy Corbyn succumbs to a taxpayer-funded car. He should do what the rest of us do – get a standard rail ticket or walk.’