Javid and other MPs opposing Extinction Rebellion protests are on the wrong side of history
It seems perfectly clear to me. All the Tory government has to do to end the Extinction Rebellion protests is take action to halt the planetary harm that causes climate change.
Face it: the disruption to the lives of Londoners that is happening at the moment is tiny, compared to the disruption that will happen to everybody – and I mean everybody – if oblivious fat cat industrialists aren’t forced to stop thinking about their profits and start thinking about the planet.
Instead, Sajid Javid has said he wants police to use the “full force of the law” to stop the protests across the UK’s capital.
Why? Is that going to end the threat of climate change, then? Does he think if we can’t see anybody protesting about it, the problem will go away?
What about Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who said, “We’ve got the message”? Has he? What is he doing about it, then?
Nothing.
What about Claire “Bag of Air” Perry, the energy and climate change minister, who said she could not see that “disrupting one of world’s busiest transport systems … blocking emergency routes and making life difficult for so many is going to build consensus and support for the changes we need”? What legislation has she put forward to ensure those changes happen?
None.
Emma Thompson has the right idea.
The movie actress has flown back to London from Hollywood to become an Extinction Rebellion protester herself.
She made a short video to explain her reasons:
And she’s absolutely right; there is no ‘Planet B’ for us if a few greedy rich people ruin this one.
She’s got the message – it’s Michael Gove who hasn’t, even though he’ll say it until he’s blue in the face (not much change there, then).
Here’s another person who’s got the message – Jonathan Pie:
Again, he targeted Michael Gove. Rightly.
If Gove had got the message, he would have swung Tory policy into reverse and actually started making a difference today – and never mind the fact that it’s right in the middle of the Easter holidays; I don’t think the sixth mass extinction event respects UK government timetables.
But he hasn’t got the message. He’s sitting on his thumbs somewhere, dreaming about being the next useless Tory prime minister.
And Sajid Javid’s “full force of the law”?
In case he hasn’t noticed, the “full force of the law” is a lot less forceful than it was when his leaderene Theresa May took over as Home Secretary in 2010.
If he throws the “full force” of a few hundred tired and demoralised Met police officers at a few thousands protesters, he’ll only make everybody angry – especially when the pictures get shown on TV (or more likely, on the social media).
And then there’ll be a few thousand more protesters for him to handle.
How many will it take before he – and the rest of them – finally realise they’re not going to win, and that it’s better all round to help?
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The plonkers peddling the myths of man made climate change are on the wrong side of history
What evidence to you have for that rather silly and sneering insult?
There’s only one person on this panel that agrees with you, the rest think he’s talking nonsense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TTsTYCpKUY
The peaceful nature of this protest is paying dividends, even the police are admitting that non-violent resistance limits their response makes it much harder for them to disperse the protesters.
The protests in Khartoum, Sudan have also shown how effective non-violent protest can be.
My question is, does anybody and I mean ANYBODY have a long term strategy? Fundamental change to our economy is required but this is not going to happen overnight; it will take years. I wrote to Tony Blair about this. There is much that can be done in the meantime. I have a complete body wash with a single bucket of water. Recycling is not new. Discard as little as possible; don’t waste food, reuse anything that can be reused. I buy 2nd hand clothes; if it doesn’t have to be new, it isn’t. Walk, if you can. Drive if you must. We need more grass verges, out of town shopping centres are the enemy, as is paving over gardens and building on flood plains and water meadows. Turn lights on when you can’t see i.e. when it’s actually dark and turn them off, again, we don’t need lights on in empty buildings, nor do we need our streets lit up like day! We need a village mentality. We have become so detached from our environment that we’ve forgotten that we are a part of nature, not a apart from it.
Public transport must be affordable, efficient and reliable. Charging people for going about their business is not the answer, especially if there are no viable, or practical alternatives, because those punitive measure only affect those who can afford it the least; the people with money won’t change. How much faster is somebody going to be able to get a newer, cleaner, less polluting car, if you charge them over the odds to use their existing old one? There is no joined up thinking and no planning. Our politicians are reactionary, rather than pro active.
We are a petrol economy and we have all be sold the ideal that we must have cars (expensive to run though they be) and myriad electrical devices? What do we expect to power them? We want the freedom to smoke but there are consequences for our environment, too; it all the cigarettes smoked around the world were converted into fields of burning tobacco, it would be deemed an ecological catastrophe.
We are making progress but the small things that we can do as individuals that are not difficult or radical can make a difference. This, I think, would have been a better message from the protesters; letting people know how easy it is to make a difference just by doing small things that will save them money; that’s always a good incentive!
I understand, to a degree, why people were demonstrating but how much worse was the congestion hence the pollution because of the disruption that they caused?
Whether you believe that climate change is caused by us, or by the rest of nature, it is we who will suffer as a result so, we have to do something.
I think the Extinction Rebellion protesters would probably tell you they already do the things you mention. There is only a certain amount that the mass of poor individuals can do. This is a disaster that can only be prevented by the few who have the most.
Mike
At the time of writing there has been 968 arrests with only 40 charged.
It would be interesting to know what they’ve been charged with. There’s usually a reason when the authorities don’t tell us these things.