Environmental activists begin week-long protest
ENVIRONMENTAL activists Extinction Rebellion (XR) have started a week-long campaign of action in Cardiff.
It marked the beginning of what the group described as a “regional rebellion” which will see protests staged across the UK including in London, Manchester, Bristol and Leeds.
As reported in yesterday’s paper, the campaign will culminate in larger-scale protests planned for Cardiff on Tuesday, with simultaneous demonstrations taking place in London and Manchester.
Last year, the Cardiff-based XR group caused days of traffic chaos in the city after a demonstration led to Castle Street being closed for days.
As part of a co-ordinated UK action, banners which included messages about climate change and Extinction Rebellion were hung from bridges on the M4, Western Avenue and other locations in Cardiff early yesterday morning.
Messages on the M4 included “Rebel am Byth” (Rebel Forever) and “Extinction Rebellion”, while banners on Western Avenue read “We want to live!”.
Hugh Thomas, an Extinction Rebellion activist, said: “Cardiff is under threat, so we need to take action now in a Covid-safe way and urge the public to contact their local MPs to ask them to support the Climate and Ecological Emergency (CEE) Bill.
“We’ve seen people come together during the Covid pandemic and we’re asking them to do that now, to tell their elected representatives to stop ignoring the climate crisis because it’s going to impact badly on our capital city.
“Sadly, Cardiff is predicted to be the sixth most likely city in the world and the first in the UK to be impacted by rising tides caused by melting ice caps, and the UK Government is ignoring this.
“Cardiff Council say they have plans to build flood defences but we can’t indefinitely fight the forces of nature and we have seen that with the terrible flooding in the Valleys recently, so we need to halt carbon emissions now if we’re to turn the tide and have urgent government action for the global climate and ecological crisis because no vaccine will fix it.”
Today the group will meet in The Hayes to protest about bailouts for the aviation industry, and tomorrow the group plans to assemble a “mysterious pyramid” in Bute Park.
On Monday, the group plans to place an “art installation” outside Barclays Bank on Queen Street, while Tuesday will see campaigners meet in Bute Park in the morning, before marching from City Hall at 1pm.
Various gatherings will take place on the following days, with one at the Senedd on Wednesday, Cardiff Central Station on Thursday and Cardiff Docks on Friday, with a “Justice March” to the Senedd on the following day.
Dr Chris Newman, a GP and founder of Doctors for XR, told reporters they were aware of the health risks of public gatherings and had cancelled previous protest plans.
“Everyone in XR that I’ve spoken to is extremely mindful of the risks and we’re all concerned about health risks.
“That’s why we’re here, because climate change is a health issue as much as anything,” he said.
“So everyone will be pushing very hard for all XR participants to be obeying Government rules with social distancing, with them avoiding protests if they’re unwell or if they have to isolate.”