XR – The Massive One

Friday twenty first April 2023 is the beginning of ‘The Massive One‘, a 4 day motion ending on Monday twenty fourth April organised by Extinction Rise up when folks from an enormous vary of teams and actions, not simply XR, will collect all through Westminster and on the Homes of Parliament.

XR say “The local weather, nature and humanity face catastrophe. We all know it’s time to behave. Do you belief politicians to do the appropriate factor for us? For the planet? Be a part of 100,000 folks holding them to account.“

Greater than 200 organisations are supporting the motion, together with Greenpeace, Associates of the Earth and PCS, though after I checked with per week to go solely round 26,000 folks had really registered to come back. I think about many like me are loath to enroll publicly to protest, or simply lazy or haven’t acquired round to it.

The occasions are deliberate by XR to be household pleasant, accessible and welcoming, artistic and interesting “with Folks’s Pickets exterior authorities departments and a various programme of audio system, performers and workshops, awash with color and tradition. There shall be artwork and music, talks from specialists, locations to pay attention and have interaction, and actions for the children.”

I hope to be there and recording the occasions, although as of late I’d having to take issues a bit of simpler than I used to and will have to relaxation, maybe on the Sunday when The Massive One’s Working Out of Time! coexists with the London Marathon. However please come if and when you may to affix in. Extra on the Extinction Rise up web page.

4 Years in the past, Extinction Rise up was coming to the tip of per week of protests that shut down a lot of London, having occupied Waterloo Bridge, Oxford Circus, Mable Arch and different key websites on Monday twenty fifth. I’d photographed a lot of their actions and you’ll examine them and see photos on My London Diary.

On Friday nineteenth April 2019 the ‘Sea of Protest’ was nonetheless occupying and blocking Oxford Circus with a big pink yacht named for the Honduran environmental activist Berta Cáceres assassinated in 2016. As part of actions deliberate to indicate ‘Love For The Earth’ on the fifth day of the occupation there, actress Dame Emma Thompson arrived from New York to talk.

Components of the press and media with pursuits in fossil fuels and giving assist to local weather deniers criticised right here for flying right here to talk. However although we have to drastically reduce our dependence on aviation, this isn’t about ending journeys like these for which there isn’t any actual different, however for making big cuts within the complete numbers of flights. We have to finish the subsidies to aviation and levy taxes on flying – a system with per particular person annual carbon allowances and heavy penalties for exceeding these can be extra honest.

Police stood and watched the gang as Thompson spoke, however a couple of minutes later after I had left the world for a brief break, police surrounded the pink yacht and put a hoop of officers round Oxford Circus.

Slowly police persuaded protesters to depart by threatening them with arrest and slicing off those that have been locked on across the backside of the yacht. There have been a lot of arrests of those that had refused to depart. XR organisers persuaded folks to not bodily oppose the police motion as this went towards the non-violent ideas of Extinction Rise up.

XR’s coverage of non-violence and inspiring as many individuals as attainable to get arrested has led to criticism from many extra militant teams, and places a terrific stress on those that give authorized help, together with Inexperienced and Black Cross, “an unbiased grassroots mission arrange within the spirit of mutual assist to assist social and environmental struggles inside the UK”.

Extra from April nineteenth 2019 on My London Diary:
Police clear XR from Oxford Circus
Emma Thompson speaks at XR