Extinction Rebellion protestors block road in mass cycle to Heathrow
Extinction Rebellion protestors ride straight through red light and block road in mass cycle to Heathrow to campaign against climate change
- Protestors are descending on Heathrow to protest controversial third runway
- Boris Johnson pledged to lie in front of the bulldozers when elected MP in 2015
- Today, demonstrators will perform a ‘bulldozer lie-in’ at the airport
Extinction Rebellion protestors have cycled to Heathrow today, blocking the road as part of a campaign against the airport’s expansion.
Footage taken by one of the participants who is running on the road alongside the cyclists shows the large group passing through red lights.
Police cyclists can be seen escorting the protestors and one warns the jogger to get off the road, saying: ‘You’re gonna have to be careful mate, you’re going to get hit.’
A group of Extinction Rebellion protestors have today cycled to Heathrow to demonstrate against the third runway
One of the bikes was even designed to look like a bulldozer, in reference to Boris Johnson promising when he was first elected as MP for Uxbridge to ‘join John McDonnell in lying in front of the bulldozers’ if the expansion of Heathrow goes ahead.
When the cyclists arrive at the airport, they will perform a ‘bulldozer lie-in’ and act out the future destruction bulldozers will cause when they begin building the controversial Third Runway.
Johnson and McDonnell were invited to attend today’s protest by the eco activists.
One of the protestors (pictured) ran alongside the cyclists on the main road up to Heathrow but was warned by police to move to the pavement
Many of the protestors had the signature Extinction Rebellion symbols on flags and their clothing
Many of the protestors had the signature Extinction Rebellion symbols on flags and their clothing.
Local anti-Heathrow campaigner Christine Taylor, said: ‘Residents in villages to the north of Heathrow have repeatedly faced the destruction of their communities by a proposed third runway.
‘Now, with communities around the world suffering the effects of climate change, it’s time to scrap the runway and cancel the bulldozers once and for all.’
Police allowed the protest to take place today on Bath Road but insisted it must finish by 3.30pm.
Heathrow’s third runway is a controversial topic and one taken up by climate activists as a key battleground.
Police allowed the protest to take place today on Bath Road but insisted it must finish by 3.30pm
Heathrow’s third runway is a controversial topic and one taken up by climate activists as a key battleground
They say that building the runway is incompatible with the Government’s target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, saying increased air traffic will only exacerbate the current problem.
Kevin Anderson, Professor of Energy and Climate Change at Manchester University, said: ‘At every level, expanding Heathrow flies in the face of any scientific, mathematical and moral interpretation of our Paris commitments.
‘The strong support by many politicians for the expansion demonstrates just how thin their veil of concern is for our own children’s prospects as well as the lives of poorer and more climatically-vulnerable communities.
‘Set against this failure of integrity and strategic leadership, it is imperative that civil society steps up to fill the vacuum left by those purporting to be in charge.’
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