The first trials for people arrested on Extinction Rebellion (XR) actions were discontinued at the beginning of March. Christian Climate Action members Ruth Jarman (55) and Margriet were due to appear at Hendon magistrates’ court on 1 and 4 March after having been arrested many times during XR protests in London last autumn. (PN 2624–2625)
XR has held dozens of events in the last two months, and spread internationally, claiming more than 200 XR chapters worldwide.
In the UK, during February, XR organised creative street parties in Hackney and Bristol, and blocked roads during London Fashion Week.
On 11 February, three members of Norfolk XR were arrested after they disrupted the budget meeting of Norfolk county council, delaying its start by five hours.
Norfolk XR were protesting at the council’s decision to approve £2m in design costs for a new link road to the west of Norwich.
On 9 March, dozens of members of XR poured hundreds of litres of fake blood at the gates of Downing Street in a ‘Blood of Our Children’ event. They listened to 15 young people speaking about climate change. The blood-pourers had been told by police that their action would be treated as criminal damage and they would be arrested. In the event, no arrests were made.
On 11 March, XR activists began a five-week walk from Land’s End in Cornwall to London as part of a UK-wide ‘Earth March’.
According to XR, other starting-points include Brighton, Cambridge, Cardiff, Cardigan, Manchester, Norwich, Oxford and Peterborough. There’s also a bike ride from Grantham.
During the weekend 16–17 March, XR held a ‘Spring Uprising’ festival in Bristol at which it hoped to give nonviolent direct action training to 1,000 activists at a time.
Topics: Climate change & climate action