As Extinction Rebellion swarm protesters cause increasing traffic disruption, police have advised motorists against driving in London for the rest of this week.
The Extinction Rebellion swarm, scheduled from Wednesday 21 to Friday 23 November, is a series of very short blockades of roads around London; with the intention of causing a full gridlock. Extinction Rebellion states its aim is to “cause economic disruption” in order to “bring authorities to the [negotiating] table” – the environmental campaign group has enacted a range of protest events throughout November, aiming to bring attention to the increasingly urgent issue of climate change through non-violent direct action.
Activists participating in the Extinction Rebellion swarm, armed with polite “sorry for the delay” signs and food offerings to placate delayed motorists, are blocking roads across the capital for five to 10 minutes at a time. The Metropolitan police has warned drivers that London traffic is likely to experience significant disruption until Saturday and recommended planning alternative means of transport into and around the city where possible. Police also issued a reminder to drivers that any attempt to drive through protesters would be “very dangerous and illegal”.
Demonstrators, who gave the police prior warning of the planned Extinction Rebellion swarm, will continue to move around London enacting short term road blocks tomorrow and Friday. They have said they will abandon any blockade which hampers emergency vehicles.
More than 140 activists have been arrested over the course of Extinction Rebellion’s campaign of civil disobedience, 82 of them at last Saturday’s Rebellion Day demonstrations, which saw protesters blockading five major bridges in London. The group practises what it calls “respectful disruption”, engaging in a succession of “escalating non-violent direct actions” to draw official attention to its cause. The Extinction Rebellion swarm protests will be followed by “Rebellion Day 2”, a large scale blockade of Parliament Square, on Saturday November 24.
