Extinction Rebellion block Embankment, Lambeth and Westminster Bridges

Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion left commuters outraged today as they brought chaos to the streets of London today as they closed major bridges and even invaded The Mall during the Changing of the Guard.

Demonstrators shut Lambeth Bridge and Westminster Bridge and blocked Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, Downing Street and the Victoria Embankment, amid warnings of further human roadblocks and ‘cascading congestion’.

Police had arrested 135 protesters by 12.30pm today as key traffic routes through Westminster faced major congestion today with buses diverted and the demonstrations expected to escalate over the next fortnight.

Commuters on social media complained of delays as they criticised the ‘hypocrites’ causing more pollution by forcing cars to sit idling, while others blasted the ‘nuisances’ who had ruined their journeys across the capital.

One observer tweeted: ‘Just imagine how many people in London would be safer over the next two weeks if the police resources weren’t being completely drained and overwhelmed by Extinction Rebellion?’ 

Parliament Square was empty of traffic except for police vans and bicycles as helicopters circled overhead, while on Lambeth Bridge protesters started to build a house before climbing on top when police tried to dismantle it. 

The demonstrators, who are also planning processions, marches and a sit-in at City Airport, claim they are ready to face arrest, go to jail and go on hunger strike as they urge politicians to outline plans to tackle climate change. 

Activists say the protests could be five times bigger than those in April, which saw more than 1,100 arrests. They are part of an ‘international rebellion’, with action also taking place in Berlin, Madrid, Amsterdam and New York. 

The arrests today are in addition to those over the weekend, with eight people arrested on Saturday – seven on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance, and the eighth on suspicion of obstructing police. All those arrested on Saturday have been released under investigation.

And yesterday one woman and two men were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance. The woman has been released under investigation, the men remain in custody, the police said.

Labour deputy leader Tom Watson is due to give a speech on Westminster Bridge at 6pm. But a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: ‘People are entitled to protest peacefully but they must do so within the law. It’s essential that people can go about their business going to work, visiting families and using vital public services.’

In response to a video of a protester resisting arrest, National Crime Agency chief Lynne Owens tweeted: ‘Thinking of all my colleagues at Metropolitan Police. They should not have to endure this sort of behaviour.’

XR protesters were also performing yoga on Westminster Bridge. Onlooker James Bickerton said: ‘Protesters on Westminster Bridge have lit an incense candle and got mats out for yoga. It’s all gone very rainbow rhythms.’

Meanwhile, demonstrators were lying under a trailer parked in the middle of the road at Trafalgar Square. Others stacked a pile of items including a kitchen sink, pans, and camp chairs beside them on the pavement.

This morning, activists gathered for their first protest on Victoria Embankment where they unfurled a banner on a human roadblock saying ‘XR Peace – For Earth, For All Of Us’ and held a placard saying: ‘Tell the Truth’.

XR protesters playing steel drums marched from Parliament Square to Trafalgar Square, and a 25-year-old teacher from London who took the week off to join the protests said: ‘The plan is to shut down the whole of London.

‘The issue of climate change is an issue for everyone, and it’s clear we can’t leave it to the politicians. I booked the week off work for this. The school kids are out protesting too. Everyone is.’

Police are searching anyone suspected of carrying paint.

XR said protesters from the XR Peace group arrested as they blocked Victoria Embankment outside the Ministry of Defence included Sarah Lasenby, 81, a Quaker and retired social worker from Oxford. 

She said: ‘For 21 years my main concern has been to help get rid of UK nuclear weapons. I am still keen to do this but once I came across XR I was so relieved to have something I could do about the ghastly state we have got our planet in.’

She added: ‘The whole thing is so urgent that it is imperative the Government should take serious actions and put pressure on other states and Global Powers to radically reduce the use of fossil fuels even if this means we need to reduce our comfort at home and so much flying.’

Protesters were carried away by police officers on Horse Guards Road. An onlooker said he saw at least five people arrested after they refused to let a van through the road.

Video of the moment showed people being carried off to chants of ‘we love you’ from other protesters. Protesters also blocked Victoria Street were lying under a van while surrounded by police. 

An onlooker said: ‘Looks like lots of mini protests rather than a centralised area, huge range of people – if anything mainly middle-aged people.’

XR protester Caroline Hartnell, 69, from London, said she will be attending the protests every day. She said: ‘This is the start of two weeks of action. We are going to be surrounding all the Government ministries.

‘We are going to be putting pressure on them what they are going to do mend the climate emergency, because we are running out of time. I have seven grandchildren and the youngest is three. I feel passionately for them (and worry) there is not going to be a world for them to live in.’

Oxford University student Fergus Green from St Albans was also amid the growing crowd of drummers, stewards and flag-waving protesters planning to ‘shut down Westminster’.

He said: ‘People are coming from all over the country. I’m here to force the Government to take action on climate change. I’m a student, I should be at uni – my term has started. But I’m here to take action. People are missing work and school to be here.’

Police managed to break into an Extinction Rebellion van on Westminster Bridge and arrested the driver. Onlooker James Bickerton said: ‘Protesters blocked Westminster Bridge with two vans and started building a stage. 

‘Police have broken into one van and surrounded the other (at least two arrests) but still a lot of protesters blocking the bridge.’

Victoria Embankment remained closed outside the Ministry of Defence.

And Victoria Street close to Westminster Abbey, and side roads by Methodist Central Hall, are being held by another group of protesters with banners that read ‘tell the truth’ and ‘no coal mines, no fracking’.

On the first day of the two-week international protest, XR protesters made their way to Whitehall waving ‘XR’ logo flags and marched with a steel drum band.

Protesters said they plan to ‘shut down the whole of Westminster’ and surround the ministries.

Two protesters have mounted a Land Rover and trailer at Trafalgar Square roundabout, one wearing a gas mask and trench coat and the other with an XR flag and a sign reading ‘stop ecoside’. Police surrounded the vehicle.

Police officers were photographed carrying away protesters, with one was cut out from a rig carrying a fake nuclear weapon saying ‘Trident – Immoral, obsolete, militarily useless’ near the Ministry of Defence.  

One tearful activist called Rowan compared the protesters to Gandhi and Martin Luther King, telling LBC radio: ‘I’m feeling quite moved at the moment because I’ve just been watching people being taken away.

‘It’s very moving seeing people giving their freedom and giving so much of their lives. Some of these people have been doing this for years, trying to raise the warning about climate change.

‘I really feel that this is their last chance to try to turn things around. If we don’t turn it around this time, that’s it. That’s it for the people in the future. 

‘I feel the legacy we’ve inherited from the people who have done non-violence civil disobedience in the past – people like Martin Luther King and Gandhi. They all fought for freedom and human rights and for the right for life on earth. They’ve handed the torch on to us.’

Police moved into remove the fake missile as protesters shouted ‘Tell the Truth’, and several chained themselves into a car along the Embankment before officers used cutting gear to remove the chains and arrest them.

Scores of colourfully dressed activists – and their children – gathered at Marble Arch this morning following an ‘opening ceremony’ yesterday to mark the biggest-ever occupation of the streets.

On an XR broadcast group on Telegram where organisers give updates to protestors, they wrote this morning: ‘Today the international Rebellion is starting in 60 cities around the world. 

‘As the sun rises in London rebels arrive from across the country. Police may take our pillows or our gazebos. But we are everything we need. Maybe bring some water and waterproofs though!

‘We will continue to rebel until this Government act as if the truth is real. With truth, love and nonviolence. We will sit in the roads together today. With or without bean bags. See you in the streets. Extinction Rebellion.’

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘As of 8am on Monday, October 7 there have been a total of 21 arrests in connection with the Extinction Rebellion protests.

‘On Sunday, October 6 one female and two males were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance. The female has been released under investigation, the males remain in custody.

‘On Saturday, October 5 eight arrests were made. Seven arrests were on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance, while the eighth was made on suspicion of obstructing police. All those arrested on Saturday have been released under investigation.’

Secret plans seen by the Daily Mail have revealed tactics by XR to frustrate the police, cause ‘economic disruption’ and ‘take over’ government departments.

The group has warned its peaceful protest blockading Westminster would be five times bigger than those seen earlier this year – and could disrupt the Queen’s Speech. The protesters will issue an alternative ‘People’s Speech’ – which will be ‘based on the demands of the rebels on the streets’. 

In the document titled Full Briefing For Swarming Actions, protesters are told they are ‘the bringers of hope’ and ‘will pry open the darkness to let the light in’ – even though they admit they will infuriate many Britons. 

‘We need to be aware that we’ll come under attack,’ it reads. ‘If the system is seriously threatened it will fight back. The people losing profits will hate us. The media will demonise us. The people in the street may resist us.

‘We might be called terrorists. We might cause people to go hungry. Parents will be late picking up their kids. We’ll cause people to struggle to pay rent.

‘We’ll cause people working on wonderful, progressive, healing art projects to have their cause set back and their art seen by no one. At the same time we need to hold the awareness that these things are occurring within an insane and suicidal system.’

But Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, who is the police chief in charge of dealing with the Extinction Rebellion protests, told LBC radio today: ‘The police’s role is to enforce the law.

‘Where behaviour is unlawful, and obstructing the highways for significant periods of time, or other behaviour that we anticipate, which is unlawful, we will deal with – and we will deal with robustly.’

It comes after the activists were able to spray nearly 400 gallons of organic water containing beetroot on the Treasury and themselves last week before at least 30 officers and 12 police vehicles arrived on the scene. 

Footage of the spray painting suggested there were no police on the scene when the incident began. A large cordon was later put place around the fire engine, which was bought on eBay for around £2,000 by activists.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps warned the disruption was ‘unlikely to win over hearts and minds and will do damage to the economy and people’s livelihoods’. He added: ‘I am concerned that it will potentially turn people against an important cause.’ 

The activists plan to shut down 11 roads around Whitehall. Some of the roadblocks will consist of about 20 cyclists who will hand out cupcakes to placate irate motorists.

The group compares the tactic to Genghis Khan’s ‘Mongolian light cavalry’. Their document advises calming drivers with remarks such as: ‘You’re really angry, I can see that – and you really want to be on your way, yeah?’

Extinction Rebellion plans to hand out ‘bust cards’ informing protesters of their legal rights. It says that small-scale deployments are harder for police to ‘kettle’ – or contain.

It also advises a tactic of 50 people walking backwards and forwards across a crossing continuously for seven minutes to create ‘cascading congestion’, adding: ‘This is totally legal.’

Protests in April saw about 5,000 activists take part – with actress Emma Thompson making a speech on top of a pink sailing boat at Oxford Circus.

This time Extinction Rebellion says it will muster 20,000 to 30,000 protesters. Activists drove tractors painted pink towards London yesterday. One Twitter user remarked: ‘Is it running on diesel, or a prayer?’ 

Celebrities also backed the protest. Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman and TV hosts Stephen Fry and Alan Carr donned the group’s ‘X’ badges at the Royal Albert Hall on Thursday night, joined by comedian Asim Chaudry and US actress Crystal Clarke.

Spice Girl Mel B said: ‘I’m giving all my support to these brave activists to make a better world for us all.’ Model Daisy Lowe offered her support, saying: ‘It’s time for change. It’s time for rebellion and I love being able to be part of it.’

Miss Colman and Chaudry have both appeared in British Airways in-flight safety films. London City Airport, from which BA operates, is a target.

Extinction Rebellion spokesman Joel Scott-Halkes said: ‘We’re going to blockade and shut down every single road going into the central area of Westminster around the government.’

On Saturday, Met Police used a battering ram to raid a warehouse in Kennington, South London. Seven women and three men were arrested.

Transport officials warned commuters to the capital to leave plenty of time for travel and check for disruption.