Extinction Rebellion glue themselves to the speakers chair in the HOC!

Fair point about the overall population. Like you I have to answer to very complex questions. The middle east now seems to be countries with a very young average age - younger than 30. I guess this is a combination of large families and better survival rates of infants. I’d guess that asian countries will have the same trend.
China took drastic action to control its population - but that led to some awful parental choices.
But do we really want to be a first world country, who went through the development / health / wealth / longevity / reduction in birth rate cycle, and demand that counties barely starting on this cycle simply stop having babies? Seems brutal.

Just before noon today, a group of around fifty people took nonviolent action at the House of Commons to kick off the first phase of Extinction Rebellion’s September plans. The Parliament action began with three people booked on an official tour of the building, gluing themselves in a chain around the Speaker’s Chair inside the Parliamentary Chamber. They took it in turns to read a speech, pointing to the need for a Citizens’ Assembly to cut through the corruption deep in the heart of Westminster. (1) They wore t-shirts that read ‘Let The People Decide’.

Behind the Speaker’s Chair in the great hall, two people held two large banners that read ‘Citizens’ Assemblies Now’ and ‘Let The People Decide’. Outside of the building, a member of Extinction Rebellion climbed up the scaffolding around Big Ben and held another giant banner that read ‘Let The People Decide- Citizens’ Assemblies Now”, while two others chained themselves to the railings.

Everyone inside the building had entered legally via an official tourist booking.

The speech read out in the chamber said: “We are in crisis. And what goes on in this chamber every day makes a joke out of us all. We can not afford to carry on like this. It is possible to act on climate and costs in a way that is fair and supports everyone. But our political system is too out of date and out of touch to see beyond the next election cycle and do what needs to be done. (2) We need a new way of making decisions, where more voices are heard, not just those at the top. We need the true diversity of the country to be represented.

“We need a Citizens’ Assembly, now. Citizens’ Assemblies empower ordinary people to make decisions that benefit everyone. Decisions that can get us out of this mess and make life better, safer, fairer for all of us.”

Idealistic but laudable and I’m all for it … :+1:

(1) We all know by now how corrupt Boris Johnson’s Tory government was - billions of pounds of the taxpayers money spent on themselves and their cronies while there was a COVID pandemic raging … :roll_eyes:

(2) As we know, the modern mainstream “politician” is no longer interested in ideals - they serve only themselves to get what advantages and benefits out of their “career” - BJ, of course, being the perfect example … :exclamation:

@Omah , yes but we all know how much you hate Boris and the Tories and really, this is something that should be apolitical.

And do you really believe that anyone is altruistic enough to just want to save the world.

Of course … :+1:

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Okey dokey. Guess we’re looking at this from different angles, and maybe owt’s better than now’t if at least something’s got the potential to be achievable.

Think it’ll be necessary at some stage, but I take your point.

I don’t believe a few non violent civil disobedience demonstrations are over the top.
Our planet is facing climate and ecological emergency.
To quibble on calling the ER idiots or prat’s is a kin to burying your head in sand.
If we want a world fit for the generations yet to be born there will need to be big changes to the way we live our lives.

All that you’ve mentioned transport ,travel, diet, farming , the throw away mentality and our homes come under the heading of change.
We need to be more adaptable or face a non future of mass extinction .

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Where is this new energy going to come from, and especially within the next few years?

Oh you mean similar to the now ended policy in China … no !
Ummm sorry I should of linked that to your earlier reply

I said persuade, not mandate it.

So no, not like China.

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For a start we us need to use less energy .
The infrastructure to do this …nuclear wave wind solar will need massive investment.
But what can’t happen is to do nothing “ it’s to inconvenient “
Believe me it will be inconvenient when we can no longer breath.
I say we but it won’t be us ….our grandchildren.

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Exactly! We need to be more adaptable.

We need to immediately limit cars to one per household for a start . Raise the age from 21 to drive and 80 as an upper limit … kids should NOT be given mobiles, credit cards et al which is all part of the ‘give, give, give’ mentality of the consumerism age.

They need to prepare for austerity …for a ‘reset’, for less reliance on technology and more for living in tune with what’s left of the planet.
They need to be less fashion conscious, less materialistic and spend less time Tik Toking and get out there learning about the environment and it’s problems.

As to blocking the route of ambulances?
I do disagree with your implication earlier … if one ambulance had to do a detour that jeopardised or cost one persons life they have blood on their hands.
It can’t be justified and made to sound excusable or morally superior on the grounds of saving the planet.

Glueing themsleves to roads and in a daisy chain in the HOC is, put bluntly, childish in it’s naivety.
They’re like kids stamping their foot in a tantrum and insisting someone make the world a better place when they probably all drove there by car.

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Do you know that or are you making unsubstantiated assertions?

Do you know that they did not?

Oh come on Omah, there is picky and there is picky.
Alright … why are they using glue, a real environmentally friendly product . Not.

Okey dokey. First thing is to embrace the fuel crisis then, 'cos that’s the way it’s going to have to be in terms of being more frugal while paying more for things so that this investment can take place.

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I believe I answered this in a earlier post to swimmy

Glue themselves to roads
The recent spate of gluing to roads 2022 was Insulate Britain protesters not the extinction rebellion.

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@Omah , Such a shame then that nobody could see or hear their message as
the house was entirely empty at the time ! I was completely ignorant of
the gist of their speech or signs untill you posted :frowning::frowning:
Are you in cahoots ?? :roll_eyes::roll_eyes:

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You’re the one making the assertion, presumably to belittle their intentions.

In Central London, as you probably know, many people use the Tube to “get around”.

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I was ignorant too … but I followed the link provided.

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Just a min … Insulate Britain … aren’t they run by the guy Roger Hallam ?

Who co-founded and then left Extinction Rebellion (under a cloud) … who has 6 diesel vehicles dumped on his Cornish farm ( very environmentally friendly) … whilst preaching to everyone else about saving the planet.

Who also antagonised a lot of people back in 2019 by his anti-Semitic comments downplaying the Holocaust and claiming it was just a ‘normal’ thing … just ‘human f***ckery’.

Hmm …

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