KICKING UP EXTINCT
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ECO warriors Extinction Rebellion yesterday occupied central London as they launched a twoweek protest campaign.
Activists shut down roads around Parliament, with banners reading “tell the truth” and “no coal mines, no fracking” in a bid to get the Government to declare an ecological emergency.
They also blocked Lambeth Bridge in demo action tipped to be “five times bigger” than similar protests back in April.
Extinction Rebellion is calling on the Government to act immediately to halt wildlife loss and to reduce the world’s greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2025.
Protests took place in some 60 cities worldwide, they said.
Backed by celebrities including actor Sir Mark Rylance, comic Ruby Wax and model Daisy Lowe, the activists were seen to be cementing themselves in cars and spray painting graffiti reading “life not death for my grandchildren” on walls. Onlookers said police were unable to cope with the huge crowds.
Last night the Metropolitan Police said 276 arrests had been made.
Two of those held were said to be 81-year-old Sarah Lasenby, a Quaker from Oxford, and Phil Kingston, 82. MP Caroline Lucas from the Green Party said that the protesters were better prepared for the crisis than MPs, adding: “There is more political leadership being shown by Extinction Rebellion on London’s streets than I’ve ever seen in the Commons.”
Protester Caroline Hartnell, 69, from London, said activists would surround all the Government ministries.
She said: “I have seven grandchildren and I worry there is not going to be a world for them to live in.”
Actress Juliet Stevenson said: “We can’t any longer allow governments to do this so we have to make it clear that there is no more time.”