Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Met 'stretched' by Extinction Rebellion protests

With 1,100 arrests so far during the week's climate protests, police say they has diverted resources.

Extinction Rebellion protests have "stretched" police resources in London, the Metropolitan Police chief has said.

Dame Cressida Dick said she hoped the demonstrators would "protest lawfully" or "go home" after their "failure to take and occupy" certain streets.

A week of climate protests, including at Trafalgar Square and the BBC's New Broadcasting House, have seen more than 1,100 people arrested.

The movement said many protesters will "risk their liberty" for their cause.

Police have asked activists who have been demonstrating close to the Houses of Parliament in Westminster to move their protests in Trafalgar Square or risk arrest.

They served a Section 14 notice - designed to prevent "serious disruption" to communities - before removing those who had camped out in Westminster.

Dame Cressida said that if demonstrators protested lawfully she could deploy "many" officers "back to the streets, back to the neighbourhoods, back to the schools, back to the wards of the people of London".

"We are responding to all serious matters and urgent matters of course, carrying on with our crime investigations in homicide or armed robbery," she said.

"But we're having to move work from one unit to another and the less urgent, less critical, less important work of course gets delayed."

Responding to Dame Cressida's comments, Extinction Rebellion said it is a "peaceful non-violent movement" and that many protesters are "prepared to risk their liberty to stand up for the planet".

It added that young people are already experiencing "eco-anxiety" - a feeling of being overwhelmed by the existential challenge of climate change - and the police chief's response "is only going to make the situation worse".

Extinction Rebellion activists are protesting in cities around the world, including Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam and Sydney, and are calling for urgent action on global climate and wildlife emergencies.

As part of their protests on Friday, activists gathered outside tents at Trafalgar Square and blocked the entrance to the BBC's central London headquarters.

Jon Fuller, who is part of Extinction Rebellion's media team, said that while the BBC is reporting more on tackling climate change than ever before, it does not report "the most frightening" news stories.

The BBC said it covers "many climate change and environmental issues", adding that programmes such as Blue Planet II and Climate Change: The Facts have a "huge impact" on public debate.

"We know how important these issues are to audiences and will continue to focus on them across both news and non-news programmes, whilst internally doing all we can to lead the way in promoting sustainability in the media industry," it said in a statement.

On Thursday, a Paralympic medallist climbed on top of a British Airways plane at London City Airport.

Another man refused to sit in his seat, delaying a flight by nearly two hours.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×