I had never been on a protest before, there were lots of us like that at the Extinction Rebellion (XR) events in London in April 2019. I had seen a video clip of the small XR action in October 2018 when approximately 50 people tried to block all the bridges in London. I was impressed by the seriousness of their actions – they were attempting to get arrested for goodness sake! – contrasted with the extreme politeness and humour of their approach.
When I heard in December 2018 that XR were organising a week of events at Easter week 2019, I was also impressed by their organisation skills. ‘Book the week off work’ said the banner. Actually, I did need at least four months to plan for a week off work and so I appreciated the long notice period. I talked to my boss and colleagues and although I felt like an idiot and a ‘hippy,’ I said that I had thought about it logically. Happy to drift along if I didn’t believe the science. However, if I did think that I did believe the science (and I really wish the science didn’t exist of course) then I needed to act. One thing or the other.
I planned to go up on the XR bus from my area on the Sunday and stay until 6pm Wednesday (train was booked for my journey home, all very organised). I was going alone although at the last minute a friend decided to join in for the first two days, and we did meet people on the bus. However it was still odd to show up on a sunny April Monday morning at the protest in London having no idea what to expect, being told to carry a tree on to the totally empty and silent Waterloo Bridge. The police helped close the road over the Bridge to protect the protesters although I think this was only done because they thought it would be a short event. Later on Monday when the protest sites across London started to grow, the police started to arrest people. I had chosen not to be arrested and so made sure I was standing on the right bits of the tarmac (and that pattern continued all three days), watching with tears in my eyes as the first few protesters were dragged away. Then it became like a machine, more and more police and more and more arrests. I stayed until 10.30pm and felt very emotional listening to the singing as the group on the bridge got smaller and smaller. It turned out that the police stopped at around 4am and there were still 12 ‘arrestables’ left, who had been given sustenance by gospel choirs appearing out of no-where at 3am, and through the act of gluing themselves to a lorry. It was a surprise to turn up early Tuesday morning and see that these protesters had held the bridge! Tuesday was odd because the arrests started at 11am and all day the dancing and poetry readings and tourists milled around (including many children as it was the Easter holiday) whilst protester after protester was dragged off to the police vans.
By Wednesday lunchtime, literally everyone around me had been arrested so I was alone at the southern end of the Bridge, on the pavement next to the Odeon IMAX roundabout. I was standing right up against the traffic in the position that I thought would be the most terrifying when I saw people there on Monday, but there was no-one else left so I figured it was my turn. I had my XR flag on a long pole over my shoulder and 10 police vans behind me, and many people wanted to take my photo. There was less anger on the Wednesday however it did feel important to comfort everyone who was upset that they couldn’t cross the bridge. One lady had been delayed getting to the hospital to see her dying husband and she was in bits. I was so sorry. Lots of drivers told me to ‘get a job’ and that made me laugh each time because I am an accountant so I definitely have a job. It’s just that I got worried by the UN report that there was only 12 years left to take action. When they were shouting and swearing at me from their cars, I would think ‘Have you got another, spare planet in your back pocket, so you don’t have to care about this planet?’ I looked everyone in the eye however bad the abuse. I wondered when the penny would drop for them.
Although I wasn’t really able to enjoy the festival vibe at all the different sites across London, because I am quite straight laced and not used to dancing in the streets, I did definitely feel the magic that was in the air. Even aside from everything going on, the weather was excellent and the views from Waterloo Bridge were stunning. Most of all, I was left with a profound sense of respect for those 1,000+ people who were arrested that week. There were lots of old people, doctors, young scientists – sensible people who would be chatting to you one moment and then in a police van the next.
They were so committed to the cause but I was on the protest because I am so unwilling to change my behaviour (I love long haul flights, it is one of my favourite things in life, also organic meat) and therefore I will need the financial incentives to change. Before I change. For example, it doesn’t make sense that it can cost £30 to fly return to the south of France – how can someone make this sacrifice when the pricing is so crazy in the face of the climate emergency?
Someday I will be brave enough to be an ‘arrestable’ and for now I am proud that I experienced the power and joy of the protest for a few days during that eventful week in London which launched XR on to the international stage.