Extinction Rebellion protests – live: Activists glue themselves to top banks in ‘shut down’ of London’s financial district
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Your support makes all the difference.Extinction Rebellion is targeting London’s financial hub, with hundreds of activists blocking streets around the City of London in an effort to cause “maximum disruption” as the climate change protests moved into their second week.
Flouting police instructions to stay within Trafalgar Square, demonstrators glued themselves to the Walkie Talkie building, Barclays Bank, BlackRock and BAE systems while highlighting the impact that the sector’s investment in fossil fuels, intensive farming and logging is having upon the environment and the Global South.
Ahead of the Queen’s speech, the protest group projected Greta Thunberg’s incendiary UN speech on to the Houses of Parliament on Sunday night.
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As of 8am, the Met had arrested 1,336 protesters.
The known international tally sat at 1,436, bringing the total to 2,799
More arrests have likely since been made at Bank, where the "shut down" continues...
Reuters/Henry Nicholls
Well that didn't take long....
The Guardian's Damien Gayle interviews Rabbi Jeffrey Newman moments before he is taken away by police.
Here he is delivering his sermon ahead of the arrest, with his words echoed back to him by fellow protesters.
"Let's remember our love for the whole of humanity, in all corners of the world. Let's recollect our sincere desire to protect all this - for ourselves, for all living beings, and for generations to come."
It's no longer just workers in the Walkie Talkie who are going to have to use an alternative entrance.
Activists have glued themselves to the ground outside Barclays London headquarters.
Environmentalists have long asked the organisation to divest from the fossil fuel industry.
According to People and Planet, they've provided £85bn in funding for fossil fuels over the past three years.
Blackrock, the world's biggest asset manager, has become the latest firm to host activists outside their foyer.
XR called the firm "the world's biggest backer of climate and rainforest destruction", saying: "BlackRock stokes the fires that are destroying our planet. It invests in companies that use deforestation to produce beef, soy, palm oil, rubber and timber."
Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
Protesters sat outside the building at a table with a BlackRock tablecloth before a meal of rolled up money, a Reuters reporter said.
Former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas has tagged XR in her response to the Queen's speech.
She denounced the government's efforts on the "life and death" issue of climate breakdown as "six words in a sub-clause".
Roger Hallam was remanded in custody after a case management hearing, during which he entered no plea.
The 53-year-old appeared at Isleworth Crown Court via video-link from Wormwood Scrubs prison, accused of conspiring to cause a public nuisance between August 1 and September 14, namely conspiring with others to fly drones near Heathrow airport "in order to cause widespread disruption".
During the short hearing, a bearded Hallam, wearing a grey jumper and sitting at a desk, spoke only to give his name and date of birth and confirm his nationality as British.
The XR co-founder entered no plea and a trial date of February 17 was set.
Despite the focus on the financial sector, there's still a strong presence Trafalgar Square today.
Six activists have reportedly been arrested outside an office of BAE Systems, the world's fourth largest arms manufacturer.
Activists aimed to highlight the link between war and the climate crisis, as well as the illegal sale of arms to Saudi Arabia.
Here's more on the "accidental" approval of licences for the sale of military equipment to Saudi Arabia from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade's Andrew Smith.
With a verdict expected today on the fate of nine protesters accused of trespass and criminal damage at the International Petroleum conference in February, XR have set up a trial of their own at Bank.
A protester wearing a judge's wig and brandishing a gavel oversees proceedings in the City of London.
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