Extinction Rebellion reveals plans for '12 days of crisis' in run up to general election

Bronwen Weatherby26 November 2019

Extinction Rebellion has officially announced its "Twelve Days of Crisis" campaign which plans to disrupt the general election with a series of non-violent protests.

The seasonally-named action intends to put pressure on politicians of all parties to make "climate and ecological emergency the defining issue of this general election".

According to XR's kitlist, recently published online, the so-called "Election Rebellion" could include staging “mock emergencies” and people being glued to party battle-buses in bumblebee costumes.

Organisers say they hope to raise the alarm about the climate crisis with the help of "bikes, bees and bulldozers".

More inventive direct action is planned for the Christmas themed general election inspired campaign
Leon Neal/Getty Images

The group say they do not believe the political parties' manifestos have gone far enough in pledging to tackle climate change.

They wish politicians to sign up to the "Three Demands Bill", which urges those in power to tell the truth, act now and take the fight "beyond politics".

The group said the first phase will commence on November 30 with a "Paint The Streets" event involving members fly posting and taking part in general disobedience challenges.

Extinction Rebellion London Protests: October 2019 - In pictures

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Then, the 12-day campaign will officially kick off on December 1 with a "nation-wide Sounding of the Alarm" outside series of political parties' HQs.

Action will run right up to the eve of the election with activists from Wales to Cumbria set to take part, according to the XR website.

Jamie Kelsey Fry of Extinction Rebellion’s Citizen’s Assembly team said: “Whichever government the British people elect, it will be the last government in UK history that had the chance to act genuinely as if we are in the absolute Climate Emergency that we are in.

"All the main parties have shown that they are not up to that challenge; they are rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic to a greater or lesser extent."

Mr Kelsey Fry added it is in the hands of the British public to "make the very hard decisions that have to be made if we are going to avert a hell-like future".

XR protesters have succeeded in shutting down London twice this year but its organisers are holding hustings in London constituencies, including Vauxhall and Hammersmith, where candidates will answer questions about the environment.

Despite this engagement with parties, the manifesto stresses that Extinction Rebellion is a “non-party political movement” and does not endorse any politicians or parties.

Activists on their second week of hunger strikes have secured meetings with four of the seven main UK political parties – Labour, Liberal Democrats, Greens and Plaid Cymru.

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