Police have imposed a London-wide ban on Extinction Rebellion’s climate change protests.
In a statement released last night, the Metropolitan Police said demonstrators protesting in the capital after 9pm last night would be arrested.
The Guardian said police began to clear protesters from Trafalgar Square “almost without warning” after the announcement.
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Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said the move was made “due to the ongoing serious disruption to the community”.
The activist group has held a number of demonstrations across the capital demanding government action on climate change. Yesterday, hundreds of protesters targeted the City of London, blocking the crossroads outside the Bank of England.
Taylor said: “There have been more than 1,400 arrests, and a number of people have been charged. The policing operation continues, and we will continue to take action against anyone engaged in unlawful protests at locations targeted by Extinction Rebellion.”
In a statement on Twitter, Extinction Rebellion London described the ban as “an outrage”, and accused police of “back-tracking on promises”. Activist leaders claimed that MEPs had told them the clearing of Trafalgar Square could be “in contravention of UK law”.
Kevin Blowe, of the Network for Police Monitoring, said the order effectively amounted to a ban on XR and claimed the police had not gone through the required due process to impose it.
An Extinction Rebellion spokesman said: “The Climate and Ecological Emergency isn’t going away and we remain resolute in facing it. We urge the Government and the authorities to join us in doing the same. We cannot do it alone. This is bigger than all of us.”
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