By James Simons-
Extinction Rebellion and dozens of other environmental groups have vowed to “step up campaigns in new and inventive ways” unless the Government agrees to enter talks to end new fossil fuel licences.
In a joint news conference, Extinction Rebellion, Global Justice Now, Don’t Pay UK and PCS Union said campaigners would unite for further demonstrations unless ministers agree to end all licences, funding and approvals for new fossil fuel projects.
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The campaigners said they are bringing together over 200 organisations, including Greenpeace, as well as further community groups for a mass gathering in London this weekend.
“We must unite to survive,” said Marijin van der Geer from Extinction Rebellion ahead of the event, which they are calling The Big One.
The four days of protest, from Friday to Monday, “are not intended for public disruption”, they said.
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The campaigners have so far amassed 28,000 signatures online so far, they said, travel could be disrupted, and acknowledged the capital would be busy with the London Marathon taking place on Sunday.
If the government does not agree to start talks on their two demands by 5pm Monday 24th April, they said they would have “no choice” but to call on all those attending over the weekend to step up their protests.
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The group has additionally called for the Government to create “emergency citizens assemblies” to tackle the climate crisis.
The groups said they had given Downing Street a deadline of next Tuesday to reply to their demands or they will escalate their protests.
The warning follows the severe disruption to the World Snooker Championships and the Grand National were both disrupted by environmental campaigners in recent days.
There were jeers and angry shouts from the crowd at the Crucible as the Just Stop Oil activist invaded the arena at around 7.20pm on Monday during a first-round match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry.
The man, wearing a Just Stop Oil T-shirt, was quickly bundled away by security. “Terrible, terrible scenes here at the Crucible,” the BBC commentator said.
A female protester who tried to interrupt the game on table two between Mark Allen and Fan Zhengyi was restrained before she could throw any powder paint.
The activists were met with jeers from the crowd, with several shouting “pricks” as the protesters were arrested.
The match between Allen and Zhengyi resumed on the other table after a delay of about 45 minutes. Resuming play, Allen quipped: “I don’t know what all the fuss was about.”
Organisers suggested that the match between Milkins and Perry could be finished on table two after Allen and Zhengyi had finished playing – but the incident, on the third day of a 17-day tournament, has the potential to cause chaos for organisers.
Former world champion Stephen Hendry, on commentary duties for the BBC, said: “I have never seen that before at a snooker event. It’s a first.
“It is scary. Wow! You just hope the cloth can be recovered from that. It caught us all by surprise and then this happens.
“For me, straight away as a snooker player I am thinking, ‘Is the table recoverable?’ We don’t know what that is on the table.”
“New oil and gas will snooker us”, Just Stop Oil said in a statement. The group, which did not provide a specific reason for targeting snooker, said: “(We) are demanding that the Government immediately stop all new UK fossil fuel projects and are calling on UK sporting institutions to step into in civil resistance against the Government’s genocidal policies.”
South Yorkshire Police said in a statement: “Two people were detained after protesters gained entry to The Crucible earlier this evening.
“A 30-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. Both are in police custody.”
It was the second time in three days that a major international sporting event has been disrupted, after 118 people were arrested at Aintree on Saturday as they tried to scale the perimeter fence at the Grand National.
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