Extinction Rebellion activists ‘train’ in London ahead of new wave of protests

Met Police says 38 climate activists arrested at demonstration on Sunday

Extinction Rebellion has run a non-violence training course in London to prepare new recruits for a planned wave of protests this month.

The climate change group, also known as XR, held the session in Hyde Park on Monday morning, after holding large demonstrations in the capital over the weekend. A total of 38 activists were arrested on Sunday after crowds of people sat in the road to block traffic on Lambeth and Vauxhall Bridges, the Metropolitan Police said.

XR’s non-violent direct action training is designed to help its supporters de-escalate tense situations and understand what to do if they get arrested. Later on Monday, a group of protesters walked through South Kensington calling on the government to act against climate change.

On its website, the environmental group has called on people to mobilise this month to “demand an end to the fossil economy”, vowing they will “not be bystanders” as the climate crisis worsens.

“We will facilitate a mass flood of people to grind the capital to a halt, causing maximum material disruption and making meeting the immediate demand politically unavoidable,” the group said in a statement.

Some 8,000 people took to the streets on Saturday to demonstrate against the fossil fuel investments, according to XR.

The Olympic gold-medal-winning canoeist Etienne Stott, who attended the rally, said he was there because he feared for the future of the planet.

“I am here to demand the government end the fossil economy. We need no further fossil fuel investment,” Mr Scott said.

“I am really scared for the future,” he added.

XR protesters dressed up as rats protest outside the Science Museum in London on 11 April, 2022 (AFP via Getty Images)

The largest demonstrations over the weekend came after two XR members abseiled down Tower Bridge on Friday morning, blocking it and unfurling a banner which read “End fossil fuels now”.

Responding to the incident, London mayor Sadiq Khan said the move was “counterproductive”, emphasising that XR needed to win over the public as much as politicians.

Although the Green Party MP Caroline Lucas conceded that this was the case with some of XR’s demonstrations, she noted that disruptive action is “the only way that people feel they can make their voices heard”.

“I think that being on the streets of London has been shown to be a way of capturing people’s imaginations. People have joined those protests who have never protested before,” she told BBC One on Sunday.

XR plans to hold further demonstrations this week to raise pressure on the government to act.