Extinction Rebellion will STOP public protests which bring commuters to a standstill as they admit ‘little has changed’ after blockading traffic, gluing themselves together and spray painting artworks (but Just Stop Oil vow to carry on)
- Protests have caused significant disruption, frustrating members of the public
- Climate action group is aiming to get 100,000 to gather at Parliament on April 21
- The ‘do-it-together movement’ said: ‘In 2023, it’s time to try something different’
Extinction Rebellion is quitting actions that target the disruption of the public.
Protests have caused significant disruption in recent months, frustrating members of the public and prompting tough talk from politicians, with Home Secretary Suella Braverman dubbing them ‘extremists’.
The climate action group is aiming to get 100,000 to gather at Parliament on April 21.
The ‘do-it-together movement’ said: ‘This is a big decision. Public disruption has raised the alarm on the climate and ecological emergency incredibly successfully.
Activists from Just Stop Oil, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, form a rolling protest in Whitechapel, east London
Protesters from the groups have blocked roads and bridges in the capital in order to highlight their demand that the government stops new oil and gas projects
The climate action group is aiming to get 100,000 to gather at Parliament on April 21
‘But while the alarm has been raised, nothing has really changed. So in 2023, it’s time to try something different.
‘This year, we will prioritise attendance over arrest, relationships over roadblocks.
‘Because when the Government goes low and tries to shut down dissent, we need to go even bigger in response and become impossible to ignore. And that means bringing everyone along.
‘Instead of targeting public disruption, we’re taking the disruption directly to the UK’s seat of power.’
ER says the planet is dying at an accelerated rate and blames ‘a financial system prioritising profits over life, a media failing to inform the public and hold power to account, and a reckless Government entrenched in corruption and suppressing the right to protest injustice.’
The militant campaigners want the government to end all new licenses and consents for the exploration, development and production of the fuel in the UK.
They have been savaged for dangerous stunts including grinding the M25 to a halt, as well as gluing themselves to art masterpieces and roads in London.
It comes after it was revealed Just Stop Oil protesters were arrested up to seven times each during a month of road-blocking chaos in London this year.
Some members of the eco-zealot group, which brought the capital the roads around it to a standstill, were arrested multiple times this autumn as part of their uproarious demonstrations.
A Just Stop Oil protester is arrested by police after blocking the road at the junction of Cannon Street and Queen Victoria Street in London on October 27
Just Stop Oil protesters Phoebe Plummer, left, and Anna Holland, right, threw soup at Vincent Van Gogh’s masterpiece Sunflowers at the National Gallery
Official figures show that of the 755 people arrested between October 1 and November 4, 155 were detained by police more than once – just over one in five.
The Metropolitan Police has said those arrested are not able to be charged quickly as officers have to trawl through CCTV and take statements from witnesses before the matter goes through the courts.
Official figures from the force show that some protesters were able to take part in multiple protests, with one person being arrested a remarkable seven times, The Times reports.
The Met detained two people on five occasions, 25 people on four, 28 on three and 99 protesters on two demonstrations.
Of the 755 people arrested during their demonstrations in October and at the start of November, 112 have since been charged.
It told the publication that most arrests in the first five weeks were for obstructing the highway, a lesser offence that can only receive a maximum sentence of six months in prison.
While police investigated many of these offences, the protesters were released on bail, meaning they were free to join other demonstrations taking place.
A Just Stop Oil protester is detained by police after being taken down from the Dartford bridge
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police told the Times: ‘We are determined to bring to justice all of those who have acted unlawfully and gone beyond protest into causing serious and criminal disruption to the public of London.
‘To date over 12,500 officer shifts have been needed to deal with Just Stop Oil activity, and hundreds more will be needed to process all of the suspects through to a court outcome.’
EXCLUSIVE: REVEALED: How ‘hypocrite’ Just Stop Oil activists are using adhesives made from FOSSIL FUELS to glue themselves to roads and works of art
Just Stop Oil supporters Emily Brocklebank (right), 23, and Louis McKechnie (left), 22, were found guilty of causing just less than £2,000 of criminal damage to Vincent Van Gogh frame
The eco-zealots brought large parts of London and the South East to a standstill earlier this year after they embarked on more than 30 days of continuous protests.
This included blocking roads in the capital and climbing gantries on the M25 to force the closure of the ring road on multiple occasions.
One pair of protesters forced the closure of the Dartford bridge for more than a day, causing chaos on one of the UK’s busiest roads.
They also targeted some of world’s most recognisable cultural sights, with a pair of activists throwing soup at Vincent Van Gogh’s masterpiece Sunflowers.
Many were arrested and earlier this month the climate protest group claimed those who were jailed are ‘political prisoners’.
At a protest outside Westminster dozens gathered in Parliament Square before marching through central London, chanting their demands that the Government halts all new fossil fuel contracts.
They stopped outside the Home Office where they held up their iconic orange Just Stop Oil signs and a long banner reading: ‘No prison for peaceful protest’.
JSO spokesperson Indigo Rumblelow said: ‘We will not sit by and watch while the government imprisons peaceful people for conspiring to care, while they take away all our rights and freedoms, while they carry on torching the climate.
‘New oil and gas is the greatest act of mass murder in human history. Those who support this criminal plan are complicit in genocide. They will be the ones on trial in years to come.
‘Our supporters understand what the government and the police have not yet grasped. Your laws and punishments mean nothing in the face of the certain collapse of our food supply, our ordered civil society, our peace and security. We face the loss of everything we hold dear.
‘We will continue to resist until the government makes a critical U-turn: to announce an end to new fossil fuel licences in the UK.’
Last month it was reported that Suella Braverman would read the riot act to police chiefs and order them to do more to stop the chaos caused by the climate group.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was alleged to have called it ‘ridiculous’ that the eco-zealots were able to close down the M25 with their protests.
He is claimed to have asked: ‘Why are the police not arresting people?’
Police have been able to arrest anyone suspected of conspiring to a cause public nuisance with new powers under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
This includes those who have glued themselves to the ground, while courts have the power to impose sentences of up to 10 years in prison.
Animal Rebellion occupy Salt Bae’s celebrity hotspot Nusr-Et in Knightsbridge and brand it ‘symbolic of a broken system’ in latest stunt
ByJames Reynolds For MailOnline
Animal Rebellion supporters mounted an audacious stunt on social media celebrity Salt Bae’s famous Knightsbridge restaurant Nusr-Et last night.
Eight protestors occupied reserved tables, calling for a plant-based food system and conservation efforts known as rewilding.
Salt Bae, the social media influencer and chef who rose to fame in 2017, has hosted the likes of David Beckham, Snoop Dogg and Leonardo DiCaprio at his ‘ultra-premium’ restaurants.
In November, Salt Bae was slammed on social media after bragging about a customer’s £140,584 bill in Abu Dhabi.
Staff from Salt Bae’s Knightsbridge steakhouse, remove an environmental activist during a protest by demonstrators from Animal Rebellion, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion
Police speaking to Animal Rebellion protestors in Manchester’s Michelin-star Mana restaurant
Protesters claim staff at Salt Bae’s upmarket steak restaurant had physically removed demonstrators from the venue ‘tougher than police would do it’.
Student Ben Thomas, 20, said: ‘We’re in this restaurant to show the inequality in lifestyle during this cost-of-living crisis with people out in this fine dining establishment while others can’t heat their homes.
‘We’re a group of non-violent protesters also campaigning for a plant-based food system.
‘We just sat there, wait staff were quite civil, but the members of the public – two of them got quite aggressive at one point.
‘The woman kept giving me really dirty looks just for being there. The customers clapped as we were picked up and taken outside.’
Orin Cooley-Greene, 21, said: ‘It was tougher than police would do it.’
Salt Bae’s ‘Ultra-Premium’ London restaurant was occupied by supporters of Animal Rebellion
Animal Rebellion occupied reserved tables in a peaceful protest on Saturday evening
Animal Rebellion claims these actions will continue until the government takes real action
Mr Thomas also said: ‘Restaurants like these are symbolic of a broken system.
‘Whilst 2 million people are relying on food banks in the UK right now, influencer chefs are selling gold-plated steaks for more than one thousand pounds.
‘Steaks, and other red meats, that we know carry the highest environmental impacts.’
An hour after the occupation of the London restaurant, 16 Animal Rebellion supporters entered ‘Mana’, a Michelin Star Restaurant in Manchester’s Ancoats district.
The restaurant boasts a set-menu starting at £195 per person and refuses to cater for vegans.
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