'I'M STARVING'
Watch moment Piers Morgan eats Big Mac in front of ‘hypocrite’ animal rights radical live on his TalkTV show
PIERS Morgan concluded a fiery interview with an animal rights activist by tucking into a McDonald's Big Mac burger in front of her.
The outspoken TalkTV host had been interviewing Orla Coghlan from the group Animal Rebellion when the pair got into a heated debate about vegan "hypocrisy".
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Speaking on Wednesday night's Piers Morgan Uncensored, the presenter challenged Orla about what he saw as double standards from many vegans on the environmental impact of eating meat, compared to eating certain exotic vegetables.
Avocados - beloved by millennials - often have to be shipped or flown from the US or South America, producing tonnes of CO2.
Often, the farming of avocados and almonds is highly water-intensive, while the habitats of many animals and insects are destroyed to make way for farmland.
On top of that, pesticides used by farmers are deadly to bees.
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Bringing up a picture of a bee on the screen, Piers asked Orla: "Is one of these things an animal?"
He went on: "If a bee is an animal, why are you slaughtering them?"
Piers went on to slam what he called "rank hypocrisy" from vegans.
"I meet so many vegans who devour avocados and almonds," he said.
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"And don't seem to realise that it involves the slaughter of billions of bees."
Orla hit back, arguing that "both avocados and almonds are less damaging to the planet".
But Piers replied: "What about how they get flown here from California?"
Orla added that both are "still less damaging" to the planet than eating meat.
Suddenly, Piers changed tack.
"Anyway, look, I'm starving," he said. "And you're not going to persuade me."
A delivery rider walks onscreen carrying a McDonald's delivery bag.
"My response to you destroying all these things is to have a Big Mac," he said.
"Because you know what, it's a free country, it's a democracy, and I'm allowed to eat meat, and I'm certainly allowed to eat meat when someone who kills bees to feed their avocado habit minds."
My response to you destroying all these things is to have a Big Mac
Piers Morgan
He was speaking after eco-warriors from Orla's group Animal Rebellion sprayed white paint and glued themselves to the street outside Parliament in protest against the dairy industry.
The white paint was said to represent milk.
Orla said her group carried out the protest because the planet is "facing a climate and ecological" disaster at the moment.
She said they were calling on the government to support farmers and food producers with the transition to a "plant-based food system".
And she branded animal agriculture for meat and dairy products "a leading cause of the climate crisis".
The Met Police later confirmed that 10 people were arrested for Wednesday morning's protest.
"At approximately 10.50am, protesters threw white liquid over the gates and walls of Palace of Westminster, Bridge Street," the force said.
"Six people carried out sit down protest on the carriageway. Officers promptly on scene. 10 individuals arrested for criminal damage.
"Traffic has resumed to normal."
Andrew Howard, 63, a retired firefighter from Sheffield who took part in the protests, said: "Today’s action is a direct challenge to Prime Minister Liz Truss.
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"We are calling on her to make the drastic changes that we know need to happen in order to combat the cost-of-living, climate, and ecological crises we are facing.
"Supporting farmers into a plant-based future, whilst rewilding the land this would free up, is a total no-brainer."
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