Police begin second wave of arrests in London climate protests

Police have moved in again to begin arresting climate activists blocking Waterloo Bridge in central London.

Hundreds of people had occupied the crossing and three other sites in the capital since Monday morning.

Over Monday night, officers tried to clear the bridge, arresting 113 people, but the blockade remained in place. Just after 12.30pm on Tuesday, officers moved in again and began to carry people away.

The protests are part of a global campaign organised by the British climate group Extinction Rebellion, with demonstrations planned in 80 cities across 33 countries in the coming days.

The group has called on the UK government to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2025 and establish a citizens’ assembly to devise an emergency plan of action to tackle climate breakdown and biodiversity loss.

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What is Extinction Rebellion?

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Extinction Rebellion is a protest group that uses non-violent civil disobedience to campaign on environmental issues.

Launched in October 2018, with an assembly at Parliament Square to announce a 'declaration of rebellion' against the UK Government, the group has staged regular demonstrations against current environmental policies.

More than 1,000 activists were arrested in April 2019 after protesters occupied four sites across London, as well as blocking roads, disrupting a railway line and conducting a protest at Heathrow. Other demonstrations have included a semi-naked protest inside the House of Commons and blockading streets in London, Cardiff, Leeds, Bristol and Glasgow.

The group says climate breakdown threatens all life on Earth, and so it is rebelling against politicians who “have failed us”, to provoke radical change that will stave off a climate emergency. The movement has become global with groups set up in countries include the US, Spain, Australia, South Africa and India.

Martin Belam

Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu

One of those facing arrest was Angie Zealter, 67, from Knighton in Wales. “It will take the police some time to clear all these people and more will come here to support us,” she said.

“But this is a very import moment in history – it should have happened 50 years ago but at least it is starting to happen now. We are running out of time and our government must listen.”

Several hundred people remained on the bridge, some of them locked or glued to a lorry parked across the carriageway.

One of those glued to the underside of the van, Ben Moss, 42, a company director from Bristol, said he had been there since midnight. “It’s drastic times and drastic times need drastic measures. I am taking personal action and personal responsibility for the ecological and climate crisis,” he said.

Moss said he was breaking the law for the sake of future generations. “I feel really sorry for the inconvenience we are causing and it is nothing personal, but the inconvenience we will all face if we don’t tackle this will be much, much worse,” he said.

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On Tuesday afternoon, police said they were taking “positive action” on the demonstration, which the Metropolitan police said was causing “serious disruptions to public transport, local businesses and Londoners who wish to go about their daily business”.

In a statement circulated to the press, Ch Supt Colin Wingrove reiterated the section 14 order issued late on Monday that instructed protesters to continue their demonstration at Marble Arch and clear all other areas.

On Tuesday evening, police turned their attention away from Waterloo Bridge and to Oxford Circus, where hundreds of people were dancing to music.

Officers circulated around the crowd in groups, informing people that if they stayed they were at risk of arrest. The Guardian witnessed at least one person being carried away, while others left the crowd after speaking to police.

“We are peaceful, what about you?” they chanted as police made an arrest. About two dozen people sat beside the stage, a pink boat, next to signs warning they were glued on and could not be moved.

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Jane Forbes, an activist of pension age who spoke to the Guardian on the escalator leaving Oxford Circus station, said she and three friends, all of a similar age, had come to be arrested. “We’re the gruesome grannies,” she joked, adding that she had come from the Marble Arch campsite specifically to be arrested.

Earlier, at Parliament Square, protesters and tourists milled around in about equal numbers, with most concentrated around roadblocks. In the middle, people played with juggling sticks or diablos, or danced at small sound systems. Children played with oversize bouncy balls.

On the junction with Parliament Street, Sarah Reddyhoff, an artist from Chesham, Buckinghamshire, had drawn a large montage on the street in chalk. She had come to visit the demonstration after meeting some people taking part while on the tube on Monday.

“I think everyone wants the planet to thrive,” she said, pointing to her mural. “I have a child here, and the child is crying.” Pointing to another part, she added: “Blue planet – I put that there, because that David Attenborough film was vital to let everyone know what’s going on.”

Roger Hallam, one of the movement’s leaders, said nothing like this had been seen on the streets of London for decades. “What’s amazing about this is for 30 years you have just had that closing up of public space: ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that, you’ve got to finish then’, he said.

“Suddenly, what Extinction Rebellion has done is actually say: ‘We are doing this.’ And the state is so weak through austerity that they can’t stop us.”

An Extinction Rebellion spokesman said though police had also issued a section 14 notice to protesters blocking the roads around Parliament Square, no arrests had been made there. “There’s a couple of police on site but it doesn’t look like they are moving at all,” he said.