Extinction Rebellion has finally discovered the best way to tackle the climate crisis

The protest group has quit disruption as its primary tactic in favour of democratic gradualism, writes John Rentoul

This is the latest iteration of the eternal question for radical movements: how far should they go in making life difficult for people in pursuit of a better society? (AP)

It took more than a year for the message to percolate, but Extinction Rebellion, or XR, has acted on the advice of an Editorial in The Independent. In August 2021, we suggested that the environmental protest group should compromise: “It should eschew demos that succeed only in persuading fair-minded people that environmentalists are a nuisance intent on making life worse for them.”

We pointed out that public opinion of XR was unfavourable, by a margin of two to one. Its protests had raised the group’s profile – three-quarters of British people have heard of it – which may have attracted recruits and donations, but it had failed to persuade people of the urgent need for dramatic lifestyle changes to avert climate disaster.

On New Year’s Day, XR announced that it agreed with us. Headlined, “We Quit”, the statement admitted that “very little has changed” since XR “burst on to the scene four years ago”. It said the organisation had decided “to temporarily shift away from public disruption as a primary tactic”.