Police and council remove giant pink table set up by Extinction Rebellion protestors in Covent Garden
By Hannah Neary, Local Democracy Reporter
Police and council staff have removed a huge pink table from Covent Garden after it was erected by climate change activists on Monday, August 23.
The Met Police and Westminster City council have taken down a giant table that was set up by Extinction Rebellion (XR) protesters on Long Acre.
In a statement posted on Twitter, the Met said: “The pink table structure has been methodically dismantled and removed by specialist policing teams.
“Long Acre junction, #CoventGarden is reopen to pedestrians. Traffic will be moving very shortly.”
It also thanked Westminster council staff for helping officers clean graffiti from the street.
The four-metre pink structure was painted with the letters “change is now” and erected at the centre of a protest site by Upper St Martins Square and Long Acre.
City of Westminster council workers disposed of the structure and crushed it in a large vehicle.
On Monday, XR started its “Impossible Rebellion” – two weeks of protests across the capital, targeting the City of London.
It is calling for the UK government to stop investing in fossil fuels.
A press release by XR said the table was fitted with speakers and space for protesters to sleep.
It also said the table symbolised the group inviting people to join protesters to discuss climate change.
The group tweeted: “They can crush our table, but they can’t crush our spirit.
“We’re only just begining. We won’t let this stop us. Donate now, to support The Impossible Rebellion, and help us invite everyone to come to the table.
“This is a #ClimateEmergency – #ActNow”
Protesters moved to Westminster and Parliament Square on August 24 – demanding urgent government action on climate change.
On August 24, the Met Police tweeted: “We have made a number of arrests on Parliament Street so far. Some people have once again used complicated lock-on devices, adding to the unreasonable nature of this disruption.
“Our specialist removal teams are on site and will start to dismantle these devices.
“Parliament Street is reopen to traffic and those persons who were locked on have been removed.”
Police arrested more than 50 people on August 23 after hundreds of people blocked roads in central London, including around Trafalgar Square.
Activists gathered at the Guildhall on August 22 and spray-painted the building, which led to nine people being arrested.
Gail Bradbrook, cofounder of XR, said: “Our leaders in government and business have been failing us for years, they are taking us over a cliff.
“If they are in any way serious about tackling this existential crisis then they would immediately stop financing fossil fuels, because continuing to pour petrol on a fire is an obvious sign of insanity.
“Why don’t they act? They are wedded to a corrupt political economy, centred in the City of London, that extracts vast profits from communities and nature, and depends on destructive economic growth for its survival.
“We need to tell the truth, humanity has to change course, we have no choice.”
Pictured top: Pink table removed from Long Acre (credit: Metropolitan Police Service)
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