Apparently 80% of participants at one of their citizens assemblies were in favour of going back to civil disobedience after courting the mainstream NGOs and dropping the tactic of public disruption resulted in a big fat nothing from the govt. As was obvious from the start (not that they achieved much with public disruption either). Novara Media interview, from 18:30:





They acted like a liberal/professional NGO, now they complain they're being ignored and placated ... like a liberal/professional NGO.



jeers,
I

*****

https://rebellion.global/blog/2023/05/12/global-newsletter-76/

The Big One: Broad Alliance Put On "Ignore"

21 - 24 APRIL | London, UK

There were marches so big you had to queue to join them. There were moving speeches, star-studded musical sets, pickets outside government buildings, and peoples' assemblies using clever software to allow ideas to be uploaded and rated.

But there was a key ingredient missing from this rebellion in the city where rebellion first began. And that was disruption. Instead, this would be a rebellion where anyone concerned about the climate crisis could attend without fear of arrest, and sheer numbers would force the government into dialogue. This would be The Big One.

For four days, Westminster became a place of creativity, solidarity, and public assembly.

A direct benefit of this tactical softening was the unprecedented support of over 200 eco and social justice groups, with stalls from many of them lining the stretch of road outside parliament which hosted the 4-day rebellion.

There was also a distinct lack of police. Gone were the colonnades of scowling police officers, swooping in to randomly arrest someone or seize a speaker system. Now we had a small army of smiling rebel stewards, making sure pavements were kept clear, schedules were kept to, and disruption was kept to a minimum.

But this more loving, less rage-filled era also had its problems. After making a lot of fuss about how the rebellion would ruin the neighbouring London Marathon (it didn’t), the British media pretty much ignored The Big One, and so too did the government. Rebels and other activists may have massed at parliament’s doorstep, but clearly the numbers required to get that door to open were not met.

An Algerian refugee talks of his harrowing journey to the UK and how seeking happiness should be a human right.

That’s not to say that attendance figures were bad. At least 60,000 people attended the Earth Day biodiversity march around Westminster, and across the 4 days XR UK’s goal of 100,000 attendees was certainly met.

The Big One’s broad new alliance also brought in fresh faces and enriched actions, like the rally outside the Home Office where an Algerian asylum seeker spoke movingly about his perilous journey across the English Channel before rebels launched 1000s of small pink paper boats in solidarity with migrants everywhere.

XR UK’s open-arm approach, and the amazing activist alliance that resulted, should be celebrated. But for a future Big One to challenge that system, it either needs to be a lot bigger, or a lot more disruptive, or (somehow) both.

Rebel scientists outline the tactical dilemma now facing XR UK.

The rebellion’s final people's assembly showed that the vast majority want to return to disruptive actions, despite the UK’s draconian new protest laws. Whether this might diminish or fire up the fledgling activist alliance remains to be seen.

XR has long been a space where family-friendly actions and spicy civil disobedience can co-exist peacefully, each enriching the movement in their own special way. The hope is that XR UK can now build on the alliances forged during The Big One, and ensure The Next One finds that sweet spot between nice and spicy, between big and attention-grabbing, and makes those in power so agitated they actually open that door.

Tell XR UK what you think should happen next.
The Big One: Broad Alliance Put On "Ignore"

21 - 24 APRIL | London, UK

There were marches so big you had to queue to join them. There were moving speeches, star-studded musical sets, pickets outside government buildings, and peoples' assemblies using clever software to allow ideas to be uploaded and rated.

But there was a key ingredient missing from this rebellion in the city where rebellion first began. And that was disruption. Instead, this would be a rebellion where anyone concerned about the climate crisis could attend without fear of arrest, and sheer numbers would force the government into dialogue. This would be The Big One.

For four days, Westminster became a place of creativity, solidarity, and public assembly.

A direct benefit of this tactical softening was the unprecedented support of over 200 eco and social justice groups, with stalls from many of them lining the stretch of road outside parliament which hosted the 4-day rebellion.

There was also a distinct lack of police. Gone were the colonnades of scowling police officers, swooping in to randomly arrest someone or seize a speaker system. Now we had a small army of smiling rebel stewards, making sure pavements were kept clear, schedules were kept to, and disruption was kept to a minimum.

But this more loving, less rage-filled era also had its problems. After making a lot of fuss about how the rebellion would ruin the neighbouring London Marathon (it didn’t), the British media pretty much ignored The Big One, and so too did the government. Rebels and other activists may have massed at parliament’s doorstep, but clearly the numbers required to get that door to open were not met.

An Algerian refugee talks of his harrowing journey to the UK and how seeking happiness should be a human right.

That’s not to say that attendance figures were bad. At least 60,000 people attended the Earth Day biodiversity march around Westminster, and across the 4 days XR UK’s goal of 100,000 attendees was certainly met.

The Big One’s broad new alliance also brought in fresh faces and enriched actions, like the rally outside the Home Office where an Algerian asylum seeker spoke movingly about his perilous journey across the English Channel before rebels launched 1000s of small pink paper boats in solidarity with migrants everywhere.

XR UK’s open-arm approach, and the amazing activist alliance that resulted, should be celebrated. But for a future Big One to challenge that system, it either needs to be a lot bigger, or a lot more disruptive, or (somehow) both.

Rebel scientists outline the tactical dilemma now facing XR UK.

The rebellion’s final people's assembly showed that the vast majority want to return to disruptive actions, despite the UK’s draconian new protest laws. Whether this might diminish or fire up the fledgling activist alliance remains to be seen.

XR has long been a space where family-friendly actions and spicy civil disobedience can co-exist peacefully, each enriching the movement in their own special way. The hope is that XR UK can now build on the alliances forged during The Big One, and ensure The Next One finds that sweet spot between nice and spicy, between big and attention-grabbing, and makes those in power so agitated they actually open that door.

Tell XR UK what you think should happen next.