Extinction Rebellion to fight London protest ban

Activists from the environmental pressure group Extinction Rebellion yesterday vowed to challenge a blanket protest ban imposed by the London police.

The authorities told activists late Monday to leave their designated site in Trafalgar Square after a week of disruptions across the UK capital.

But pop-up actions continued Tuesday outside a few government buildings, resulting in more arrests.

London police reported making 1,457 arrests as of Tuesday morning. An overwhelming majority of those detained were booked and immediately released.

The group said in a statement that its lawyers “will submit an application for judicial review to the High Court for an urgent hearing”.

“The ban is a disproportionate and unprecedented curtailment of the right to free speech and free assembly,” the Extinction Rebellion statement said.

The group is protesting what it sees as government inaction in the face of climate change.

The British government has adopted guidelines aimed at reducing polluting emissions to a net level of zero by 2050.

But Extinction Rebellion wants all governments to hit that target by 2025.

It concedes that it has no specific proposals for how businesses and governments can radically alter their way of doing business in six years.

The group wants to set up special “citizens’ assemblies” in which the mechanisms could be discussed.