Extinction Rebellion to camp on Peckham Rye park for 2 weeks

[Sue]

Rockets Wrote:

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> If it is authorised then the council needs to

> explain why; XR are not a group they should be

> supporting or encouraging.

Why, exactly?

This is the most important issue of our time, and so far as I can see the vast majority of people are just hoping it will go away.

We are actually on the brink of extinction, with a very tiny window of opportunity left to do something about it.

The climate scientists' pleas are relegated to the parts of the online news that nobody looks at.

We should be grateful to XR for actually doing something to make people realise what's going on, instead of burying their heads in the sand.

If I was younger and in better health, I would join them.

[Angelina]

Completely agree Sue.

The news has cast them as trouble makers, but really the fight for Climate Change and awareness is essential now more than ever and its a movement to support.

People are content to ignore it as they don't see their worn small world impacted.

[Jenijenjen]

Sue Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Rockets Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > If it is authorised then the council needs to

> > explain why; XR are not a group they should be

> > supporting or encouraging.

>

> Why, exactly?

>

> This is the most important issue of our time, and

> so far as I can see the vast majority of people

> are just hoping it will go away.

>

> We are actually on the brink of extinction, with a

> very tiny window of opportunity left to do

> something about it.

>

> The climate scientists' pleas are relegated to the

> parts of the online news that nobody looks at.

>

> We should be grateful to XR for actually doing

> something to make people realise what's going on,

> instead of burying their heads in the sand.

>

> If I was younger and in better health, I would

> join them.

Well said Sue. The EDF demographic has really changed with people living in DV commenting negatively on events in ED. Bring back Louisa.

[Spartacus]

Maybe, playing the devil's advocate, humans shouldn't be stopped from going extinct as the planet would be better off without us and given a short period of time (geology speaking) it will recover and thrive just like it did post the dinosaur extinction event.

[legalalien]

My view is that the law should be enforced regardless of who is protesting about what. It shouldn?t be subjective based on someone at the council?s view of whether protesters are good or bad. Otherwise next time you might find them allowing groups you don?t approve of camping there (or on a similar note they might find it hard to justify not allowing groups that they don?t approve of there).

If the council wishes to authorise the protest then they should be up front about doing so and say why this case is special.

[heartblock]

I?m quite excited myself, I fully approve of their mission, I?m more involved in Medact, but XR deserve our support.

[JohnL]

XR are known to be clever about what they do - they might give an indication of turning up on Peckham Rye then turn up at Clapham.

[Spartacus]

Two less camping tonight I suspect

BBC News - Tower Bridge: Re-opens after Extinction Rebellion protest

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-61029511

[Nigello]

Legalalien is right. The council ought not to show favouritism or negative bias.

[teddyboy23]

Let's all turn up the weekend and glue ourselves to their tents

[Mabaker]

I find it quite depressing to read such hostility about a group of people who are standing up for you and your children and grandchildren against the horrors of climate change and habitat distruction.We have just a few short years to turn this around and yet some contributers seem to be more bothered about possible minor disruptions in the park. You shouldn't assume that they will leave a mess for the Council to clear up or have a negative impact on the park. Instead of condemning them out of hand why not go down there and actually talk to them and listen to their point of view. You might actually come away with a different opinion of them.

[heartblock]

Well that?s not quite right, if you read the thread some people support and some do not...not sure it?s hostile.

I think that it will be an interesting few weeks and it will be a good opportunity for locals to chat with people with the same world view or a different world view, the Rye will survive two weeks and all of us actually. They seem a very committed group of people who obviously care about all our futures....so maybe we can collectively give them a break whatever our thoughts.

[legalalien]

It?s not hostility in my case. I just think that rules are rules and the council shouldn?t allow any protest group, whatever its belief, brazenly break them. It?s irrelevant whether I agree with them or not, or whether they are well intentioned, or whether they are nice people, or whether they are going to leave a mess. They can camp there with authorisation, and presumably the council has a policy on what it does or doesn?t authorise. But even if they?re right/ lovely/ tidy they shouldn?t be above the rule of law.

[Huggers]

As I understand it via my own secret sources, the council have been negotiating with them to use this space for quite a while and it is unofficially official.They have promised to leave no trace.it?s not ?their cause?, it?s all ?our cause?, whether you like the tactics or not.

[richard tudor]

Have they put up a financial bond to pay for any clean up operation or will we Council Tax payers be left with the bill

if it is left in a mess?

[DuncanW]

Reclaim These Streets took their fight for permission to hold a vigil for Sarah Everard (during lockdown) all the way to the High Court. They lost and went ahead anyway. When amplified speeches began, the police moved in to break it up. The attendees resisted and so they used force to remove people.

I thought that was appalling.

So would be interested to learn whether LegalAlien and Nigello?s ?rules are rules? dogma applies to that episode too; or needs to be refined to rules are rules - most of the time, and I get to choose when??

[jazzer]

Can't wait for Nigello's rant about banners on the Rye!! Waiting for the next instalment in anticipation!!!

[legalalien]

Yes it does. I think the police could have handled it better on the ground, but I don?t think protests should have been allowed in breach of lockdown rules, even though I didn?t agree with many of the lockdown rules. It?s why I also agree with the police enforcing rules against the party gate culprits.

[hpsaucey]

Agree with their aims so I'll be taking them up on their (poster) offer and going along to find out more...

HP

[Rockets]

I wonder if Emma Thompson will be jetting in first-class from LA to join the protest like she did on the Oxford Street sit-in.....ahem.....

XR engage in illegal indiscriminate tactics designed to disrupt everyday life for many - there is no way the council should be encouraging that by giving them somewhere to base their attacks from. XR has spawned Insulate Britain and the Tyre Slashers (or whatever they are called) all of whom follow the same disruption tactics.

Whether we agree or not with the over-riding aims of the groups the problem is the council set a precedent by allowing this to take place. And it is not just the cost to the council, this will likely require policing and there is a high chance we will see protests by XR in the local area that will cause massive disruption to everyone.

So whilst a lot on here say...yes I will be welcoming them...would they say the same if it was a group they did not agree with? I suspect not.

[hpsaucey]

Rockets wrote:

> So whilst a lot on here say...yes I will be

> welcoming them...would they say the same if it was

> a group they did not agree with? I suspect not.

Re: this. Probably depends how the group behaves no? Personally, I'm keeping an open mind, as I would do for any group doing the same whether or not I agree with their mission.

HP

[Wil]

XR's stated aim this weekend and to 17th is to cause maximum unexpected disruption.Camp is a base and also a political presence. Clearly disruption is designed to be provocative and not legal. I have emailed Dulwich Hill councillors to ask them if they support it?

[Rockets]

Well, they haven't been behaving very well thus far, they were at it today closing Tower Bridge and even Sadiq said their protests are counter-productive.

Yet a few miles south Southwark are providing them a place to "regenerate" after their attacks - it's ludicrous.

They are promising to grind London to a halt over the next week so the camp must be related to these efforts:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/08/extinction-rebellion-fossil-fuels-protest-grind-london-halt

https://www.bigissue.com/news/activism/extinction-rebellion-london-protest-roadblocks/

[Sue]

Wil Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> XR's stated aim this weekend and to 17th is to

> cause maximum unexpected disruption.Camp is a base

> and also a political presence. Clearly disruption

> is designed to be provocative and not legal. I

> have emailed Dulwich Hill councillors to ask them

> if they support it?

Well many, including climate scientists, have played nicely to try to get this issue properly addressed by those who have the power and means to do so, and seem to have got nowhere.

It seems to me that the only way left to drum into those people's apparently thick skulls that doing something immediate and radical to slow down climate change is necessary IS to cause disruption, and to be provocative.

We should all be grateful, for our children's and grandchildrens' sakes, that XR are willing to do this.

Frankly unless someone is actually being physically harmed by XR's activities, I would say illegality is irrelevant.

Probably what the suffragettes did was illegal. There are probably lots of other instances where "illegal" action eventually brought about change.

This cause isn't something you can "agree" or "disagree" with. It's about the continued existence of the human race.

Though I do have some sympathy with those who think the planet would be better off without us.

[Wil]

Honest and thought provoking Sue. The Suffragettes were brave and right. They used illegality politically, in the same way XR do. They accepted it when the authorities upheld the law. That's what they expected, even used in some ways. Is our council and our police force going to uphold the law, make excuses for them? Or are they complicit?