Now the oh-so-green BBC is barricaded by the eco warriors
Blue Planet broadcaster ‘ignoring climate crisis’
‘Deliberately set out to cause chaos’
EXTINCTION Rebellion protesters targeted the BBC yesterday, bizarrely accusing it of failing to report on climate change.
Activists set up a barricade outside the corporation’s central London headquarters, with some gluing themselves to the ground near the doors and others scaling the building.
The eco zealots accused the BBC of failing to ‘tell the truth’ about the ‘ecological emergency’.
But many were baffled by their decision to target the broadcaster, which has devoted considerable airtime to climate issues and has a dedicated environment analyst.
BBC home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani pointed out that Extinction Rebellion spokesman Rupert Read had appeared on Question Time on Thursday night. He added on Twitter: ‘BBC colleagues reporting on climate change can’t do their job if they’re blocked by, er, climate protesters.
‘The BBC devotes an enormous amount of energy reporting the facts. From Attenborough to local online stories.’
The protesters had descended on New Broadcasting House yesterday morning. They held up banners saying: ‘Tell the Truth’ and ‘BBC, your silence is deadly’ and chanted: ‘BBC, can’t you see, this is an emergency.’
Officers stood between the protesters and the doors, although some appeared to glue themselves to the ground at the entrance. Police said they were struggling to remove two activists who had climbed up on to the glass canopy over the front doors.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘The BBC already covers many climate change and environmental issues across its output.
‘Programmes like Blue Planet II and Climate Change: The Facts have had a huge impact on the public debate both in this country and around the world.’
The demonstration came as police finally appeared to be containing the protests to Trafalgar Square, the makeshift headquarters of Extinction Rebellion’s socalled Autumn Uprising.
A few hundred protesters performing bizarre dances and games remained around the famous landmark yesterday. But another camp had also sprung up further south across the Thames in Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens.
There have been 1,100 arrests this week as a result of the protests, with police stations even bringing in extra vegan meals to accommodate the number of activists in the cells.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said: ‘Their behaviour still continues. They’ve deliberately set out to seek and cause chaos, they’re performing activity that makes it dangerous and slow for us to clear them.
‘And whilst were not anti-protest, we are against them repeatedly breaking the law and causing this really significant disruption. We have other things that we should be doing across London.’
Met Commissioner Cressida Dick said her force had been stretched by the protests, and said she hoped demonstrators would choose to either ‘protest lawfully’ at Trafalgar Square or ‘go home’.
Scotland Yard has ordered a record number of vegan meals to keep arrested activists happy in the cells.
Pallets of meat-free dishes and dairy-free drinks have been delivered to police stations amid an influx of detainees following ecoprotests across the capital.
Arrested vegan activists were being given the option of a vegetarian chilli for their evening meal last night. Inspector Brian Smith, of Brixton station, said the extra portions had been ordered after activists moaned about a lack of meat and dairy-free options in April, the last time the protests took place.
In a video posted to social media, Inspector Smith said: ‘Well, everyone knows we ran a bit low last time, so this time we’ve got plenty. In fact, yesterday a pallet-load of vegan food was delivered so we’ve got plenty for everyone.’
A Metropolitan Police source said: ‘Record numbers of vegan meals are being used in our cells.’
Meanwhile, it has emerged that a DJ duo who played a set to Extinction Rebellion protesters in Trafalgar Square on Wednesday night had just come off a 30-date world tour which saw them fly around the planet on private jets.
Dance act Disclosure’s travels to the US, Japan and Colombia would have seen them generate an estimated 32 tonnes of CO2 – more than triple the average Briton’s yearly carbon footprint.