Extinction Rebellion vows fossil fuels protest will ‘grind London to a halt’
Extinction Rebellion has said it will conduct its most disruptive protest yet in the streets of London over the coming week, calling for an end to the fossil fuel economy.
The environmental activist group, which encourages supporters to cause disruption through non-violent civil disobedience, will return to the city from Saturday with new tactics it claims will “create the most roadblocks we ever have”.
It has told supporters to book the week off work and meet in Hyde Park on Saturday morning, promising them “a simple unstoppable rebellion design” that will “facilitate a mass flood of people to grind the capital to a halt”.
Some actions have already begun. At 7am on Friday, activists blocked Tower Bridge, with two people hanging from the bridge by suspension cords and others hanging a huge banner over its side demanding: “End fossil fuels now.”
XR said in a statement: “The action has taken place at the gateway to the City of London – the root source of fossil fuel funding in the UK – and on the eve of the April rebellion which begins tomorrow at 10am in Hyde Park.”
Since 1 April, XR activists have also been staging blockades at an Esso distribution terminal in west London, as part of the Just Stop Oil campaign. XR described those actions as “a preface” to mass protests it has planned over this weekend and next week.
“We will return to the streets day after day until our immediate demand – for the UK government to immediately end all new fossil fuel investments – is met,” the group said in a recent statement.
It has called on supporters to make sure they are free until 17 April, making this “rebellion” shorter than the previous fortnights of protest the group has staged, but organisers say they hope to return to the streets on
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