Tens of thousands of protesters descended on Parliament on Saturday as part of a four-day action, billed “The Big One”, designed to “highlight the environmental failures” of government. Environmental group Extinction Rebellion (XR) kicked off the event on Friday, promising less disruption and more inclusion than the sit-downs and transport disruption that are its usual trademark. This time the climate change campaigners focused on street theatre, open-air debates and forums and protest pickets outside government departments in London “to highlight the environmental and social failures across them all”.
Saturday’s protest, which coincided with Earth Day, focused on nature and biodiversity. It started from Westminster Abbey with protesters and their children, wearing animal costumes and masks. Many had made banners for the occasion, with one reading: “We defend the climate but police arrest us” and another “Extinction is forever”. Others warned that a third of UK birds were “at risk of extinction”.
Some XR supporters took part in the London Marathon in Sunday while others organised “people’s pickets and forums throughout the heart of the capital.
They were joined by household names such as top film actor Juliet Stevenson, White Teeth author Zadie Smith, legendary producer and composer, Brian Eno, human rights advocate, Bianca Jagger, and indie band She Drew The Gun. The long weekend of climate change action was also supported by PCS, the main civil service union and a number of leading environmental and social justice movements.
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