By now we’re all used to being lectured by woke hypocritical celebs. But Lewis Hamilton’s suggestion that we all turn vegan in order to save the planet takes the biscuit. This is a man who zooms around a track in gas-guzzling speed-machines for a living and he wants the rest of us to eke out an existence on kale and nuts in order to shrink humanity’s carbon footprint? The gall is off the charts.

In an Instagram post, Hamilton said adopting a vegan diet is the ‘only way to truly save our planet’. He posted a heartfelt message saying the meat and dairy industries are leading to ‘deforestation, animal cruelty [and] our seas and climate decaying on a daily basis’. Whether he then went for a carbon-spewing spin in one of his ‘incredibly expensive cars’ is unknown.

I mean, seriously. Formula One is known for its insane wealth and decadence and the copious amounts of fuel it burns. Sure, its cars have become more fuel-efficient in recent years and F1 bosses gab about the need to be eco-friendly. But this is undeniably a sport built entirely on the exploitation of fossil fuels to the end of thrilling big audiences who love fast cars.

And that’s fine. Using natural resources to create vast sporting spectacles is okay with me. I just don’t want these people then to turn around and tell the rest of us to give up steak and tuck into quinoa. It’s like a king telling a pauper to tighten his belt.

Of course, in the increasingly irritating world of woke hectoring we’ve already had that scenario. Who can forget when Prince Harry gave a barefoot talk at a Google climate change summit in Sicily which he reportedly reached by private jet and helicopter?

That event was a veritable carnival of woke hypocrisy. The Italian press says 114 jets flew in for it. Super yachts were docked nearby. The filthy rich chatting about how to shrink the filthy impact that us eco-unfriendly mortals are having on the planet — you couldn’t make it up.

We’ve also had luvvie Emma Thompson jetting from LA to London to take part in an Extinction Rebellion (XR) protest. When a reporter asked her if she at least flies economy class, which causes a smaller individual carbon footprint, she replied:

‘I bloody don’t, no!’

Dame Emma in coach — perish the thought.

Then there’s Benedict Cumberbatch, who last week plonked himself down at an XR protest in Trafalgar Square, which also happens to be the place he made an advert for a gas-guzzling motor made by MG in India.

And how about Olivia Colman, who we all love, I know. But seriously, to parade around in an Extinction Rebellion badge while also having appeared in British Airways’ videos is a bit much.

Just when you thought ‘sleb hypocrisy couldn’t get any more annoying, now these people are actually making a publicity stunt of their own hypocritical antics.

More than a hundred celebs, including Jude Law, Thom Yorke, Mel B and Cumberbatch, natch, have signed an open letter saying the media are right to call them hypocrites. But, it goes on, ‘the stories that you write calling us climate hypocrites will not silence us’. Oh great. They’re never going to stop.

Strikingly, this missive from the hypocrites says to the public:

‘Like you…we are stuck in this fossil-fuel economy and, without systemic change, our lifestyles will keep on causing climate and ecological harm.’

Wait. Hold up. Are you comparing your private-jetting, car-advertising, race-car-driving, lavish, decadent, well-travelled lives to our lives? You must be kidding.

There’s a colossal difference between the mum who has no choice but to emit carbon as she drives her kids to school and the celeb who farts out tonnes of the stuff as he jets over to Cannes for two days of partying and bullshit.

This new ‘Yes, we’re hypocrites’ approach makes these people even more insufferable. Because what they’re effectively saying is that their message is so true and pure that it overrides even the small matter of their own sinfulness (as they see it).

Indeed, one of the worst things about eco-lecturing celebs is the way they go on about how many trees they plant and how much dosh they give to eco-charities in order to offset their polluting lives.

What they’re saying is they are so goddamn rich they can afford to clean up all the carbon they spew into the environment. Those of us who don’t have oodles of cash to spare for the planting of a mini forest every time we take a week’s break in Spain are apparently lesser people.

These celebs are now effectively saying: ‘Yes, we’re hypocrites, but we’re right and we’re rich and we really, really care, and therefore you must carry on listening to us.’

No, thanks. The public doesn’t take kindly to being told by extravagantly wealthy people that we must drive less, holiday less, eat less meat, and generally live lesser, smaller lives. Get stuffed.