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Extinction Rebellion: The People Risking Their Freedom For Climate Change | HuffPost Reports: UK

Extinction Rebellion arrests close to 1,000 as protesters ‘pause rebellion’  ITV 21 Apr 19 Climate change protesters who have stopped traffic in a series of peaceful demonstrations across London will “pause” their rebellion in a bid to achieve their political aims, as the arrest total nears 1,000.Extinction Rebellion (XR) have announced they are switching disruptive tactics for political negotiations as they enter a second week of campaigning to have the Government declare a climate emergency.

The number of people arrested in connection with the protests has hit 963 and 40 people have been charged.

Police began arresting the last pocket of activists on Waterloo Bridge on Sunday evening.

The group said it will no longer hold a picnic on the Westway by Edgware Road Underground station, which would have paused traffic on the busy A-road on the last day of the long Easter weekend.

Protesters still remain around Marble Arch, where a designated protest area has been set up.

But activists were cleared from Oxford Circus on Saturday, and from the roads around Parliament Square on Sunday.

Hundreds of officers from other forces have been drafted in to help the Metropolitan Police.

Teenage activist Greta Thunberg addressed crowds at Marble Arch on Sunday evening, ahead of meeting senior British politicians next week.

The 16-year-old Swedish activist told the cheering crowd: “For way too long the politicians and people in power have got away with not doing anything at all to fight the climate crisis and ecological crisis.

“But we will make sure that they will not get away with it any longer.”

She continued: “Humanity is now standing at a crossroads. We must now decide which path we want to take.

“How do we want the future living conditions for all living species to be like?

“We have gathered here today, and in many other places throughout London and across the world too, we have gathered today because we have chosen which path we want to take and now we are waiting for the others to follow our example.”

Explaining the change in methods, Farhana Yamin, the group’s political circle co-ordinator, said: “Today [Sunday] marks a transition from week one, which focused on actions that were vision-holding but also caused mass disruption across many dimensions (economic, cultural, emotional, social).

“Week two marks a new phase of rebellion focused on negotiations where the focus will shift to our actual political demands.”

She added the group wanted to show itself as a “cohesive long-term global force” and not “flash in the pan.”

“Being able to ‘pause’ a rebellion shows that we are organised and a long-term political force to be reckoned with,” she said.

Protesters have stopped traffic across the capital over the past week, including in Oxford Circus, Marble Arch and Waterloo Bridge, where a temporary garden was set up.

Police managed to successfully clear demonstrators at Oxford Circus, which was reopened to traffic on Saturday.

Officers carried out arrests on Waterloo Bridge and removed campaigners who had attached themselves to a truck.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said that while he shared activists’ passion about tackling climate change, the protests were ” counter-productive” and had “taken a real toll on our city”, with more 9,000 police officers responding to the demonstrations……..

The group hopes to continue their protests at Old Palace Yard in Westminster, through negotiation with the Mayor of London and Metropolitan Police.

Members would commit to not disrupting other areas in exchange for Sadiq Khan speeding up the implementation of the Declaration of Climate and Ecological Emergency and considering setting up a London Citizens’ Assembly.

They will also set up a political taskforce to take forward public negotiations with the Government, warning that they are prepared to scale up action depending on how much progress is made……. https://www.itv.com/news/2019-04-21/climate-change-protesters-to-pause-rebellion-ahead-of-political-negotiations/