Extinction Rebellion

When is being arrested a good thing?

When you are doing it deliberately to raise awareness of the looming threat of climate change.

On Monday Nigel  sat on the road in Trafalgar Square in defence of a scaffolding tower which Extinction Rebellion members had erected, climbed and then superglued themselves to.  

The protesters are following the example of Greta Thunberg and the school strikes in asking the government to act urgently to save the planet from irreversible climate change.

Far from being one of the “crusties” dismissed by Boris Johnson, Nigel is CEO of a company which coordinates recycling and he has a science degree from Cambridge University.  Many of the Extinction Rebellion protesters are educated professionals who have seen the data on climate change and are terrified by the implications.

“The great mistake is to imagine that the UK will be okay.  The changes that are affecting the planet will wipe out millions of hectares of agricultural land and dispossess many millions of people across the globe.  You can be certain the repercussions will damage the UK.”

Nigel was keen to allow himself to be arrested to show how important this issue was to him.

“Extinction Rebellion follows the models of the Suffragettes and the American Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King. Allowing myself to be arrested is a great way of showing how important this is to me.  One day I hope to have grandchildren.  When they ask me whether I did anything to prevent this crisis, I’ll have some sort of answer for them.”