Extinction Rebellion eco-warriors are plotting to shut down Heathrow Airport tomorrow as millions get ready for their Easter holidays.
Activists – who have already caused chaos across the capital by blocking landmarks for the past four days – said they were “raising the bar” to target the busiest airport in the UK ahead of the long weekend.
In internal messages seen by the Sun Online, protesters were told: “Tomorrow we raise the bar. We are going to shut down Heathrow.”
Rebels – who have already blocked Waterloo Bridge, Vauxhall Bridge, and Oxford Circus in four days of illegal demos this week – vowed to “swarm” the airport.
The group described the dramatic new tactic as an “escalation strategy”.
The plot threatens to throw the Easter plans of 800,000 passengers expected to travel through the airport into chaos tomorrow.
Extinction Rebellion spokesman Robin Boardman – the former public schoolboy who stormed off Sky News after host Adam Boulton called him “middle class and self-indulgent” yesterday – said: “This will be a standard swarming process. If there are lots of us, there will be a low risk of arrest.
“We are all going to face pushback on this. We hope, together, we can recognize the necessity of this action and communicate that necessity to our friends, our loved ones, and the general public.”
Self-professed “poet” Boardman acknowledged it would hit families holiday plans – but said the shutdown was “necessary”.
He said: “There is deep remorse for those whose holiday and family plans will be disrupted tomorrow. It is not our intention to cause further separation.
“However, the aviation industry needs to be targeted and we are all aware of the deep, structural change that needs to come.”
The messages also thanked the protesters for their efforts to shut down the capital for the past week.
Organizers said, “Over the last week, we have listened to the concerns of the movement and we can assure you that, as we test our escalation strategy on the ground, we are adapting and changing our carefully designed plan. We thank you for all your wisdom and guidance on this.”
It comes as 10 million Brits are set to hit the road this weekend.
But the protests have left holiday-makers stressed and nervous as they wait to see what will happen at the airport – which was one of the first to sign up to the goals of the Paris Agreement.
SEE ALSO: London Braces For Subway Disruption By Climate Change Activists
One man was left in tears as he revealed he had put months into organizing a romantic proposal in Paris this weekend – which could now be ruined by climate change protesters targeting the airport.
The man, only known as Richard, told LBC Radio he was “shaking” after hearing the news.
He said: “I’ve put months of preparation into taking my girlfriend to Paris.
“I went over at Christmas to look at all the hotels. I’ve spent months preparing for this, they’re going to ruin it!”
A Heathrow Airport spokesperson said: “We are working with the authorities to address any threat of protests which could disrupt the airport.
“While we respect the right to peaceful protest and agree with the need to act on climate change, we don’t agree that passengers should have their well-earned Easter Break holiday plans with family and friends disrupted. Passengers should contact their airlines for up to date information on their journeys.”
POLICE RESPONSE
A Metropolitan Police statement said it had “strong plans” in place to deal with any planned demonstration at Heathrow Airport.
The force said: “We are aware of information that suggests the protesters will carry out a demonstration on Friday, 19 April in the vicinity of Heathrow Airport.
“We have strong plans in place that will enable us to deploy a significant number of officers to Heathrow and take firm action against any protester seeking to cause disruption at this location by committing criminal offenses such as obstruction of the highway.
“We have requested mutual aid from other police forces to support our operation.
“The airport is part of our national infrastructure and we will not allow the illegal activities of protesters to cause further disruption and misery to thousands of travelers, many of them families, over Easter.
“We would urge any protester planning to attend Heathrow to strongly reconsider.”
ARRESTS CONTINUE
Police today confirmed more than 400 people had been arrested over the ongoing protests.
It has been suggested the sheer volume of protesters arrested have put pressure on the police, with activists themselves claiming cells in the capital are full and “operating on a one-in, one-out capacity.”
Some have even claimed they were taken as far away as Luton and Brighton as police struggled with demand.
SEE ALSO: A Costly Temper Tantrum Paid For By Londoners
But police refused to comment, saying that had “contingency plans in place” should they run out of space.
Activists glued themselves to a train at Canary Wharf yesterday in a bid to stop the Tube running and drivers have been stuck in traffic jams for more than an hour this morning after the protesters blocked Vauxhall Bridge.
Among those at Oxford Circus include actress Emma Thompson.
The protest has already disrupted the lives of more than 500,000 hard-working Londoners and cost businesses £12million and counting – with Extinction Rebellion threatening to keep it going for two more weeks.
Read more at The Sun
The protesters have little to worry about. Look at what the UK judicial system has done in recent years:
• 1996: A jury in Liverpool acquitted four women who caused £1.5 million damage to a Hawk jet Fighter at the British Aerospace factory;
• 1999: Three women were acquitted of causing £80,000 damage to Trident nuclear submarine equipment;
• 2000: Greenpeace director Lord Melchett and 27 activists were found not guilty of criminal damage, after ripping up a field of GM crops.
• 2000: Five Greenpeace activists were found not guilty of criminal damage after occupying a municipal incinerator in London. The prosecution (ie the taxpayer) was ordered to pay the costs of £250,000.
• 2007: Six Greenpeace activists scaled a chimney at Kingsnorth power station in Kent and daubed slogans on it causing £26,000 worth of damage. Found not guilty.
• 2015: Thirteen activists were found guilty of aggravated trespass when they blocked runways at Heathrow, causing 25 flight cancellations and what the judge called “astronomical cost”. Nevertheless, they were spared jail and given just six weeks’ suspended sentence.
Looks like it’s ok to break the law, so long as you’re doing it for the RIGHT reasons.
I hope that the Extinction Rebellion is successful in shutting down Heathrow Airport. That would finally create a backlash strong enough that these people would be dealt with as they should be. Those arrested should be fined with amounts related to the financial loss they cause. That would garanshee their pay checks for life and make it impossible to own anything of high value. The leaders should be charged with whatever laws that apply to illegal conspiracy. Putting them in cells with harden criminals would be a good lesson. Even if only a small percentage were arrested, few people would want to take the risk in the future.
If we consider the concept of what is happening, the actions of the Extinction Rebellion are bullying, plain and simple. They are using such tactics to try to force their minority opinion on the majority.
A Heathrow Airport spokesperson said: “We … agree with the need to act on climate change …”
There’s the main problem – right there. The Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming (CAGW) scare is part of a much bigger political agenda which has seen a covert totalitarian movement, over the last 30 years, plan and execute what is called the ‘Long March through the Institutions’.
Governments, educational establishments, local councils, and innumerable other organisations are now run almost exclusively by CAGW believers and activists. In fact, it’s virtually impossible to advance one’s career in any of these lines of work unless one IS such a believer or activist!
These ‘Extinction Rebellion’ protesters are actually quite right to do what they’re doing – IF (big IF) you recognise and accept that CAGW as an actual problem.
You can’t be half pregnant.
The Heathrow Airport authority was “one of the first to sign up to the goals of the Paris Agreement”.
Evidently they agree that CAGW is a serious threat to Earth’s eco-system, in which case their solemn duty is clearly to eliminate fossil-fuelled aircraft and/or close down Heathrow, preferably as soon as possible.
Logically, Heathrow Airport and the ‘Extinction Rebellion’ are on the same side, apparently with exactly the same goals.
If Earth is threatened – and Heathrow Airport has said they agree that it is – they should welcome the chaos as passengers are prevented from flying and therefore prevented from creating all that nasty CO2!
David says: “They are using such tactics to try to force their minority opinion on the majority.”
We all know he means the ‘Extinction Rebellion’ (useful idiots), of course, but that statement could be applied equally to the hierarchy of activists now running virtually every institution in the Western world!
We need to be complaining bitterly about this climate madness in EVERY instance – not just when it comes from the “middle class … self-indulgent” idiots demonstrating at airports but when it comes from people like Angela Merkel, Sir David Attenborough, Theresa May, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to name but a few.
We’re letting THEM get away with it.
Call them out!
And never again vote for ANYONE who talks about the need to tackle ‘climate change’!!
Just how long would these idiots last if they were stranded in the Wilds withour t heir cell or I phones to call 1-800-GREEN NUTS
The Extinction Rebellion just another group of Useful Idiots planning to ruin peoples Easter Sunday with their Delinquint acts I would like to see these jerks getting marooned in the wilderness they would not last long without their cell phones to call 1-800-GREEN NUTS
People are already fed up with the eco con-game gorball warning .
No ice free Arctic and no the earth is not finished in 11 years .
However , this group of eco-anarchist hypocrites will be .
Brilliant move , piss off the very people you claim you want to influence .
I know this may be upsetting to participation award winners but mother nature hasn’t given up her day job , still runs the climate , and humans
are not about to set the earths thermostat . Stop the con-job pretenders , it might be more useful to lay out your real agenda or is it really just to be attention seeking pricks ?
A lot of people lead productive lives , dealing with shit everyday , shutting down things will just backfire but they already know that .
This publicity stunt will be a giant nothing burger .
Adrenaline junkies. Push the legal limits. Instagram, Facebook, DIG ME!
This will force people to sh!t or get off the pot. If you believe in imminent climate catastrophe, knock off your carbon dioxide contributions.
If you think global warming is a fraud, fight back with your vote.
The Extinction Rebellion is the beginning of the end for the climate change circus, I hope. For Robin Broadman, I suggest a one – way ticket, aboard a drone, to your 24 virgins, half way to New York city. If your Island really is sinking, take to the sky.