Climate change protest: Extinction Rebellion activists plan to disrupt London Tube today

‘Participants will peacefully break the law in order to stop the Tube and...will wait to be arrested’

Climate change activists are planning to disrupt London Underground services, continuing a wave of protests which have brought the city to a standstill.

British Transport Police (BTP) said it would step up patrols across the capital’s Tube network on Wednesday in a bid to counter possible demonstrations by Extinction Rebellion.

Almost 300 activists have already been arrested this week at protests organised by the group in Parliament Square, Waterloo Bridge, Oxford Circus and Marble Arch.

Extinction Rebellion said it would take action to “non-violently disrupt Tube services” on Wednesday “to highlight the emergency of ecological collapse”, if the government did not meet its members.

In the UK activists are demanding the government declare a climate and ecological emergency and to act to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2025.

“Participants will peacefully break the law in order to stop the Tube and then will wait to be arrested,” Extinction Rebellion said. “We sincerely apologise to all those who may suffer as a consequence of this disruption. In any other circumstances we would never dream of disrupting the Tube but this is an emergency.

“We request that workers do not intervene in the protests to ensure that they go as smoothly and safely as possible for all involved.”

It is not clear how Extinction Rebellion plans to disrupt the services.

BTP said the public could expect to see an increased police presence at London Underground stations on Wednesday as a result of the expected demonstrations.

Wifi services on the London Underground have also been restricted temporarily in a bid to “deter serious disruption”.

“We have robust plans in place to help us respond to any potential protest activity targeting London’s rail network including the London Underground,” superintendent Matt Allingham said.

“Over the next few days a large number of additional officers will be on patrol to help facilitate what we hope is a safe and peaceful protest.

“However, we will not tolerate any activity which disrupts the millions of passengers who rely on using the rail network in London.

“During the next 24 hours, these intelligence-led patrols will be in place to help keep everyone safe and to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum.”

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said he was “extremely concerned” about possible disruption.

“It is absolutely crucial to get more people using public transport, as well as walking and cycling, if we are to tackle this climate emergency – and millions of Londoners depend on the Underground network to get about their daily lives in our city,” he said. “Targeting public transport in this way would only damage the cause of all of us who want to tackle climate change, as well as risking Londoners’ safety and I’d implore anyone considering doing so to think again.”

Scotland Yard has warned that the protests are likely to continue “throughout the coming weeks”.

Hundreds were arrested on Waterloo Bridge earlier this week, with more detained at Oxford Circus after activists blocked roads and defied a police restriction asking them to move to Marble Arch.

The protests have led to road closures, traffic gridlock and serious disruption to public transport and local businesses, with 55 bus routes closed and 500,000 people affected.

Chapters of Extinction Rebellion across the world have led similar protests.

Protesters occupied part of the International Criminal Court in The Hague earlier this week, where activists unfurled banners reading: “Make ecocide law”, and formed human chains.

Dutch police later arrested 22 of the protesters.

Meanwhile in Scotland 300 activists blocked the North Bridge road in Edinburgh. A total of 29 people were arrested after traffic on the busy road was brought to a standstill.

The Edinburgh protesters were joined by dozens of cyclists, who converged on the city centre, causing travel disruption.

Similar demonstrations were also held in Hamburg, Berlin, Copenhagen, Vienna and other cities.