AN environmental specialist for the BBC who specialised in climate change mis/disinformation has called out an activist group for ‘promoting conspiracy theories’ online.

Campaign group ‘Not Our Future’, founded by David Fleming, delivered leaflets to Oxford residents last weekend providing information about why plans to put traffic filters in place, which would see most car drivers fined for driving into the city centre and instead forcing them onto the already-congested A34, A40 and Eastern by pass, should not go ahead imminently.

The ‘Hello Guinea Pig’ leaflet produced by the group alleges that councillors have been ‘duped into thinking this is for the good of the people’ and told ‘to make it happen’.

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Journalist Marco Silva asked the group for evidence to back those claims but Not Our Future directed the BBC to the group's website where an Oxford Mail article is referenced as the source.

However, speaking on BBC Radio Oxford, Mr Silva said: “They directed me to their website where an Oxford Mail article is listed as a source but it has no mention of any such allegations.”

The group also falsely links the traffic reduction scheme to the United Nations and its policies on tackling climate change - a problem which it sees as non-existent.

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Councillor Duncan Enright, cabinet member for travel and development strategy at the council, said: “Some of these outlandish claims in these leaflets, I’m sure people won’t take seriously people aren’t daft, came from people who aren’t round here that have no idea what is going on.”

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This story was written by Gee Harland. She joined the team in 2022 as a senior multimedia reporter.

Gee covers Abingdon, Didcot, Wallingford and Wantage.

Get in touch with her by emailing: gee.harland@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @geeharland