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    Re: Sadiq says we should return to business as usual - message to the Mayor Archived Message

    Posted by John Monro on April 22, 2019, 9:01 am, in reply to "Sadiq says we should return to business as usual"

    This is what I sent to the Lord Mayor's web page feedback form.

    To the Mayor of London

    Dear Mr Khan

    In your message to the Extinction Rebellion protesters, you make two points which need remarking on.

    1) You state that these protests are stretching police resources which are already over-stretched and under resourced. This may well be true, but this has nothing to do with the Extinction Rebellion. Instead of berating the protestors, you might wish to reflect that what you're seeing is a pretty mild harbinger of much more serious social unrest as our economy and ecology crumble, in comparison to which these generally well behaved young people will seem a trivial problem. As a 72 year old expatriate, with three daughters living in London, I would be very happy and proud to join these protesters; the problem is that there hasn't been enough protests so far. An urgent chat with the PM along with Police Commissioner to insist on the necessary funding of the police and increasing police numbers by a few tens of thousands would make rather better sense and might avoid a serious breakdown of law and order. In addition of course you might wish to inform yourself and the PM on the Extinction Rebellion movement, and take action to deal with their message, instead of shooting the messenger.

    2) "My message to all protesters today is clear: you must now let London return to business as usual" I had great difficulty believing you said something so profoundly unhelpful, and basically ludicrous in this situation. Can you not, for a second, understand that this is exactly what these protesters are protesting about? You couldn't have chosen a phrase more calculated to be provocative.. You have basically thrown back in their faces the very reason they're bothering you and other Londoners, and if they've any sense and moral backbone, they'll pay absolutely no attention to your injunction, as it's so blindingly obvious you really just don't "get it".

    3) Because, Mr Khan, this "business as usual" - a 4 deg C rise in global temperatures by the end of this century, a few hundred million climate refuges, and the likelihood you'll need a boat rather than a car to escape them.

    Thank you for your time

    John Monro
    Martinborough
    New Zealand.

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