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EXTINCTION Rebellion (XR) activists climbed onto the BBC headquarters in central London today demanding that the corporation “tell the full truth” on climate change.
At the end of a week of demonstrations that has seen more than 1,100 arrests, staff reportedly struggled to get into New Broadcasting House after dozens of protesters camped outside the main entrance with banners urging the BBC to end its “silence” on climate change.
A pair of activists scaled the front of the building and several others glued their hands to the front doors.
Some protesters taped over their mouths to suggest that their voices had been taken away, while others chanted: “Whose BBC? Our BBC” and “BBC, can’t you see, this is an emergency.”
XR broadcast a number of mock news bulletins over a loudspeaker and used sirens to mimic a flood emergency, calling on the public to ration food stocks.
The group revealed that at least six protesters were arrested during the action.
While most BBC staff took to Twitter to express outrage at the disruption, Radio 5 presenter Nihal Arthanayake said it was “easy” for staff to enter the building.
He tweeted: “As I walked into the BBC this morning, every member of XR apologised for the disruption.
“BBC people complaining should get a grip.”
The night before, the non-violent group was mocked on BBC television by right-wing commentator Julia Hartley-Brewer, who called XR a “quasi-religious death cult.”
Former Scotland Yard police commander Richard Walton, who wrote a report saying the group should be treated as “anarchist extremists,” also appeared on BBC radio’s Today programme.
In an earlier statement, XR said: “This is the very same man that authored the propaganda report on XR by the opaquely funded free-market think tank Policy Exchange, which we now know to be receiving money from some of the UK’s leading energy firms.
“The report sought to portray our deeply non-violent and non-ideological movement as ‘extremist’ in order to justify the introduction of harsher laws on peaceful protest.”
A BBC spokesman said the broadcaster already covers many climate change and environmental issues, with some programmes having had “a huge impact on the public debate” in Britain and worldwide.
