Commuters clash with demonstrators over morning rush hour disruption
Extinction Rebellion activists have disrupted
London’s public transport network during rush hour, in an action that is likely to polarise opinion on the environmental movement’s tactics.
There were clashes at Canning Town tube station as commuters dragged a protester from the roof of a Jubilee line train and set upon him. He had to be defended by London Underground staff and other passersby.
At Shadwell, five activists blocked the Docklands Light Railway, with two climbing on top of a train and at least one glued to the door.
Phil Kingston, 83, whose hand was glued to the side of a carriage, said he was doing it for the sake of his grandchildren.
“I’m also very concerned about what’s happening in the poorer parts of the world who are being hit the hardest by climate breakdown,” he said. “I’m a Christian and it really upsets me to see God’s creation being wrecked across the world.
“So I’m here on those three counts and I’m longing for the government to take some actions which are in accord with the parliamentary declaration of climate and environmental emergency.”
Police said eight people had been arrested as a result of both incidents.
Ruth Jarman, who sat next to Kingston, said they had targeted the DLR because its destination was London’s financial district.
“It’s heading for the City, which is the God of our time,” she said. “All the scientific reports coming out now about what we should do about the climate breakdown, about the ecological breakdown, we need total transformation of the economy. At the moment we serve economic growth. Humanity, the planet is crucifying itself to economic growth. It cannot go on.”
Extinction Rebellion said in a statement released later in the day that it was aware the action at Shadwell was divisive, and that many in its movement were not in favour.
It added that those involved included a grandfather, an ex-Buddhist teacher, a vicar and a former GP, who had planned it autonomously.
“We are aware that one of our activists responded in self defence in a moment of panic when confronted by a threatening situation. He acknowledges his accountability for this action and we offer gratitude for members of the public who helped to protect him,” the group said.
“In light of today’s events, Extinction Rebellion will be looking at ways to bring people together rather than create an unnecessary division.”
The group have launched a wave of civil disobedience on 7 October to highlight the risks posed by the climate crisis and the accelerating loss of plant and animal species. At least 1,711 people have been arrested since the protests started.
Most commuters at Shadwell were not impressed. “Is an electric train good or not?” one asked the protesters. “Is this train good for the environment?”
“The way they’re doing it is not right,” said another, who complained that her daughter was now stuck on a DLR train between stations.
XR said in a statement that activists were willing to go to prison “in order to save lives in acts of conscience and necessity”.
The group said: “The actions are intended to bring further economic disruption to the capital as part of the ongoing campaign to convince the government to take meaningful action on the climate and ecological emergency.
“Safety measures are in place to ensure nobody is trapped underground.”
Other members of XR distanced themselves from the action which, it was explained, was autonomously taken by a number of groups within the movement.
The results of an internal poll of XR members, shared with the Guardian, showed 72% opposed action on London’s underground network under any circumstances.
It is understood the results of the survey were shared with the groups planning the transport action before it took place. No information on the size of the sample or the methodology of the poll was given.
One activist who protested at Canning Town but was not arrested said she regretted that commuters had been affected. When XR activists previously took action on the DLR, in April, at Canary Wharf station, it was mainly financial workers who were immediately affected.
XR had said that Thursday was to be a day to “pause and focus on training, outreach and our plans for attrition actions nationwide in the coming months”.
But instead it proved to be a day in which a number of affiliated groups acted autonomously in staging their own actions around London. In Southwark, two members of the Animal Rebellion faction were arrested outside the offices of the farm standards organisation Red Tractor Assurance.
Connor Thomas, 23, from Newcastle, said Red Tractor was in hock to the farming industry. “These are farmers regulating farms, they are going to go for whatever the cheapest, most profitable option is – with no care for the animal welfare,” he said.
Protesters from 13 different groups gathered outside the Bangladesh high commission in a protest over a planned coal-fired power plant they said would despoil and destroy the world’s biggest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans.
Dr Akhter Khan, of the Phulbari Solidarity Group UK, said: “It’s a unique ecosystem, home of the Bengal tiger. The Bangladeshi and Indian governments want to set up a coal-based power plant ... that will emit huge amounts of carbon and other pollutants that will cause the destruction of the forest.
Also on Thursday morning, protesters from XR Peace staged actions targeting the London offices of the arms makers Leonardo, Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems. At 11am nine activists from the group glued themselves together outside the supreme court in Westminster.
Sylvia Boyes, 75, a Quaker from Keighly, said: “We are calling on the supreme court to end all arms sales, especially those to regimes such as Saudi Arabia, where the weapons are being used in clear violation of international humanitarian law in the war on Yemen.”
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said: “I strongly condemn the Extinction Rebellion protesters who have targeted the London Underground and DLR this morning. This illegal action is extremely dangerous, counterproductive and is causing unacceptable disruption to Londoners who use public transport to get to work.
“It is also an unfair burden on our already overstretched police officers. I urge demonstrators to protest peacefully and within the boundaries of the law.”
A rail union has meanwhile urged Extinction Rebellion protesters to think again over attempts to disrupt public transport, describing the actions as dangerous and counterproductive.
Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the TSSA, said: “Earlier this week I signed a letter condemning the Metropolitan Police for banning peaceful climate protest.
“I have not changed my mind on this, but protesters should be mindful that what they have done today has simply inconvenienced ordinary working people trying to get on with their lives and trying to work on the most carbon-emission friendly options available to them to date.”