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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/24/extinction-rebellion-declares-end-to-london-protests
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| Extinction Rebellion declares end to London protests | Extinction Rebellion declares end to London protests |
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| The climate “rebellion” that has led to protesters occupying sites across London for more than a week to highlight the escalating ecological crisis will draw to a voluntary close on Thursday with a day of disruption and a “closing ceremony”. | |
| Extinction Rebellion, which has been backed by senior academics, politicians and scientists during nine days of peaceful mass civil disobedience, said it would leave its remaining blockades, but added: “The world has changed … A space for truth-telling has been opened up. | |
| “Now it is time to bring this telling of the truth to communities around London, the regions and nations of the UK, and internationally. In this age of misinformation, there is power in telling the truth.” | |
| The group, also known as XR, said it would work to build up a resilient movement to force politicians to address the climate crisis. | |
| “This movement is not just about symbolic actions, but about building the necessary resilient and regenerative culture that the world needs now. The truth is out, the real work is about to begin. The international rebellion continues,” the group said. | |
| The move came as it emerged the environment secretary, Michael Gove, had agreed to the meet representatives of the group. A spokesperson for XR said this was “totally unconnected” to its decision to end the current phase of the protest, adding that the meeting was under consideration. | |
| “It may or may not go ahead, depending on the details of how public it is and who will be attending,” they said. | “It may or may not go ahead, depending on the details of how public it is and who will be attending,” they said. |
| Support for Extinction Rebellion has quadrupled in the past nine days as public concern about the scale of the ecological crisis grows. | Support for Extinction Rebellion has quadrupled in the past nine days as public concern about the scale of the ecological crisis grows. |
| Since the protests began last Monday, 30,000 new backers or volunteers have offered support to the group. In the same period, it has raised almost £200,000 – mostly in small donations of between £10 and £50 – making a total of £365,000 since January. | |
| The group said the figures showed the public was waking up to the scale of the crisis, adding that pressure was growing on politicians to act. | The group said the figures showed the public was waking up to the scale of the crisis, adding that pressure was growing on politicians to act. |
| “What this shows is that Extinction Rebellion has spoken to people who have been wanting to act on this for such a long time but haven’t known how,” said an XR spokesperson. “The debate on this is over – ordinary people are now saying it is time for politicians to act with real urgency.” | “What this shows is that Extinction Rebellion has spoken to people who have been wanting to act on this for such a long time but haven’t known how,” said an XR spokesperson. “The debate on this is over – ordinary people are now saying it is time for politicians to act with real urgency.” |
| The group said numbers of people on the streets for the protests had dwindled from a high over the Easter bank holiday weekend, but the number of people who had signed up to offer ongoing support and backing for future demonstrations had risen from 10,000 before the protest to 40,000 by Wednesday morning. | |
| The decision to call a halt to the protests came a day after Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish student who inspired a global youth-based movement when she began a “climate strike” outside Sweden’s parliament last year, visited Westminster. | |
| In a speech to MPs, she said: “You lied to us. You gave us false hope. You told us that the future was something to look forward to. You don’t listen to the science because you are only interested in solutions that will enable you to carry on like before.” | In a speech to MPs, she said: “You lied to us. You gave us false hope. You told us that the future was something to look forward to. You don’t listen to the science because you are only interested in solutions that will enable you to carry on like before.” |
| XR’s youth group wrote to MPs on Wednesday as parliament restarted after the Easter break, pleading with them to act swiftly to address the crisis. | |
| The letter, which was handed to Labour’s Diane Abbott outside parliament, states: “We are writing to ask you to hear the science, to feel the public’s change of heart and to act now to save our futures … Now the time has arrived to stand up and be counted – you are our elected representatives and we need your help.” | The letter, which was handed to Labour’s Diane Abbott outside parliament, states: “We are writing to ask you to hear the science, to feel the public’s change of heart and to act now to save our futures … Now the time has arrived to stand up and be counted – you are our elected representatives and we need your help.” |
| In response, the shadow home secretary backed XR demonstrators, telling a crowd of up to 100 protesters – one of whom towered above the group on two-metre stilts while others wielded banners – that she acknowledged a “climate emergency”, one of the activists’ key demands. | |
| Greta Thunberg is right – only a general strike will force action on climate change | McEver Dugan and Evan Cholerton | Greta Thunberg is right – only a general strike will force action on climate change | McEver Dugan and Evan Cholerton |
| Abbott said MPs needed to come together to host a “broad conversation” on one of the group’s requests to bring the country’s greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025. | Abbott said MPs needed to come together to host a “broad conversation” on one of the group’s requests to bring the country’s greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025. |
| “I wouldn’t be in politics if I didn’t think change was possible. If things can change on the issues that I campaigned on when I was a very young woman, I think that things can change … on climate change and we can move towards the 2025 target,” she said. | |
| Abbott also suggested meeting XR for a detailed discussion of policy aims, a proposal met with rapturous applause. | |
| She reiterated her commitment to learning and listening to protesters, arguing that in the long term, climate change was more important than Brexit. | She reiterated her commitment to learning and listening to protesters, arguing that in the long term, climate change was more important than Brexit. |
| More than 1,000 XR activists have been arrested in the past nine days. Protesters occupied four sites across London and staged acts of civil disobedience including blocking roads, disrupting a railway line and demonstrating at Heathrow airport. | |
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