Gail Marie Bradbrook (born 30 April 1972) is a British environmental activist and molecular biophysicist who co-founded the environmental social movement

Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a UK-founded global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and ...

Early life and career

Bradbrook was born in 1972 and grew up in

South Elmsall South Elmsall ( ) is a town and civil parish in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. South Elmsall lies to the east of Hemsworth. The town had a population in 2001 of 6,107, increasing to 6,519 at the 2011 Census. History The tow ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

. Her father worked at a mine in

South Kirkby South Kirkby is a town in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England which is governed locally by South Kirkby and Moorthorpe Town Council. The town forms half of the civil parish of South Kirkby and Moorthorpe. The parish has a populatio ...

. She studied molecular biophysics at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, gaining a PhD. She carried out postdoctoral work in India and France. From 2003 to 2017 she was 'director of strategy' at Citizens Online, an organisation promoting wider internet access for disabled users, including launching a 'Fix the Web' campaign in November 2010.

Activism

An interest in

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

led Bradbrook to join the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

at the age of 14. She has been involved in various campaigning groups in Stroud, including a 2010 to 2013 period as voluntary director of Transition Stroud, an anti-fracking protest, various actions in opposition to the building of a local incinerator, including a naked protest, and an early

roadblock in Merrywalks, Stroud. In 2015, with George Barda, she set up the group Compassionate Revolution (which morphed into Rising Up!, out of which came Extinction Rebellion). "Bradbrook had been involved in the

Occupy movement The Occupy movement was an international populist Social movement, socio-political movement that expressed opposition to Social equality, social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of real democracy around the world. It aimed primar ...

and campaigns around peak oil, but they failed to take off." In 2016, she went on a psychedelic retreat to

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

, "where she took

ayahuasca AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' (Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' descen ...

, iboga and

kambo Kambo, also known as sapo (from ) or vacina-do-sapo, is substance derived from the natural secretions of an amphibian belonging to the Phyllomedusa family. Commonly the dried skin secretions of the giant leaf frog, known as the ''kambô'' in ...

, in search of some clarity in her work." That experience "made her change her approach" to campaigning. Soon after returning she met Roger Hallam and together they came up with Extinction Rebellion. Bradbrook wants to raise awareness of the dangers from

anthropogenic climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

and believes that only

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizenship, citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be cal ...

on a large scale can bring about the change that is needed. In November 2020 she was included in the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

Power list 2020. In August 2021, Bradbrook acknowledged that she drives a 1.5l Citroen diesel car. She said she could not afford an electric car and she needed the vehicle to drive her children to sports matches.

Personal life

Bradbrook has been married twice, the first time to Jeffrey Forshaw. She has two sons. She lives in

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Sited below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the ...

as does her ex-partner Simon Bramwell, who is also a co-founder of Extinction Rebellion.

Court Proceedings and Sentencing

On 2 November 2023, after a three-day trial, Bradbrook was found guilty of criminal damage, for breaking a pane of reinforced security glass at the Department for Transport, costing £27,660, in protest against HS2. Convicted by a jury at

Isleworth Crown Court Isleworth Crown Court is a Crown Court centre which deals with criminal cases at 36 Ridgeway Road, Isleworth, London. History The site was originally occupied by three large manor houses. However, following the Second World War, the Ministry of ...

, Bradbrook acknowledged her actions and the lack of a lawful excuse as argued by the prosecution, but she stood by her motivations for environmental advocacy. The judge maintained the trial focused on the illegal act, not the wider climate issues. Bradbrook, who represented herself, argued her protest was peaceful and necessary after other advocacy methods failed. At Isleworth Crown Court in

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: Central London, N ...

on 18 December 2023, Bradbrook was given a 15-month suspended sentence, with 150 hours of unpaid work and a year-long supervision order.

Bibliography

References

External links

Compassionate revolution – Gail Bradbrook – Off grid Festival 2016 – YouTube video by PermanentCultureNow

Rising Up! How Things Change: The Duty to Disobey – Dr Bradbrook speaks at SOAS University, 2017
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradbrook, Gail 1972 births 20th-century English scientists 21st-century English scientists Alumni of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology British climate activists British environmentalists English molecular biologists Extinction Rebellion Living people People from Hemsworth People from South Elmsall Women molecular biologists