I am a signatory to this letter on Extinction Rebellion that is in The Observer today.
I am well aware that there will be accusations for doing so. But please read what the letter says. It is about the principle of the issue. It says that XR, whether we all agree with their tactics all the time, are doing something vitally important for us all, which is to demand the radical change required to preserve human life on earth. And it rightly notes that this issue has been ignored for far too long.
For doing this vital task it has been suggested that XR be branded organised criminals, when the worst they have done is spill a little paint and block a road or two for a few hours. Very little change of any importance for the majority of people in the UK has ever happened without such things happening, as anyone with any awareness of history will know.
In contrast to XR, whose focus is on peaceful and harmless protest, we have a government deliberately breaking international law knowing full well that they might as a consequence break a peace accord whilst creating economic, social and political havoc. And it is that same government that wants to define XR as criminal.
So when asked if I wanted to sign this letter it was easy to agree. I support peaceful protest. Most of all, I support XR's right to speak out. We should all have the right to do that without fear. If we do not uphold those who speak out next they will come for us.
The government is failing us on every count. Deaths from Covid 19; a recovery plan that allocates billions of taxpayers' money to the fossil fuel economy; climate and ecological devastation that has destabilised our planet; refugees used by politicians and media to stir up fear and hatred; Public Health England scrapped with zero consultation. This list is not exhaustive.
The system is broken and the government is not protecting us.
Extinction Rebellion has helped push the government's failure to act on the climate and ecological emergency into the public eye. Whether or not we agree with their tactics or their targets, by blocking printing presses and delaying newspaper distribution, they have connected the dots of a broken system.
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Thank God for what is left of Civil Society.
XR have a right to speak out. But it’s a right they deny to women protesting their erasure.
XR statement on Trans Pride, 29 June 2020: “ trans women (ie trans identifying males) are women….this is not up for debate.”
So many hypocrites trying to take the moral high ground
I have made clear I do not agree with all XR says
I most certainly knew people in XR who do not think that
And I am not bound by XR for signing a letter
Hi Alan
We’re currently heading for 4 degrees C of warming which will kill hundreds of millions of people. Maybe you could focus on that instead of what pronouns someone chooses to use? Thanks.
Thank you Richard for all your work in this area. Our survival is so urgent now that the time for waiting for the traditional slow grinding of government to react to the climate emergency that as staring us in the face (or in the case of West coast US incendiarising people before our eyes) is over. The government has shown it can take radical action to cope with Covid-19 (albeit late and many mistakes such as farming out vital services to Serco et al) can not be delayed any longer. The government can now do the same urgent response by promoting massive international action through their hosting the international climate conference next year, though this is no excuse for not getting on urgently with carbon reduction measures and transition to a zero carbon economy now.
Agreed Bill
There is no excuse
But there will be inaction nonetheless
Goodness me.
It’s supposed to be the 21st Century.
If we can’t get our heads reasonably around trans-sexual issues then no wonder we have people who cannot get their heads around MMT.
We can’t deal apparently with the self-determination of woman wanting to be a man (or vice-versa); nor can we deal with a sovereign nation’s ability to print its currency for its people to improve their lives.
These cognitive straitjackets we impose on ourselves make no sense to me.
Maybe as a race, we are toast after all because we choose not to see,
What a shame.
Neatly put
That list does not represent the thoughts of the majority of the public who view ER as a pain in the arse. The initial motivation of the organisation is to be applauded but like BLM the group has become politicised and hijacked by anarchist and overthrow the state types which really piss of the working person. A letter signed by pseudo academics celebrities changes nothing and only highlights the chasm between them and the rest of us.
The threat to the state is from people like you
“spill a little paint and block a road or two“..
ExReb have lost the public sympathy and seem to have too many middle class retirees and Marxists/anarchists..Do you remember Canning Town tube station with ordinary people trying to get to work? Or are you calling these ordinary people neoliberals, far right or just dumb?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9P1UXYS6Bmg
Wait until London floods
Then see what those at Canning Town say