Creative direct action

The march, the petition, no longer work, or at least of limited utility, we need to be more creative and have fun.

UK Uncut, used social media, a day, a date, a time, occupy the tax dodgers Starbucks and Vodafone. It is visible, gets the message across to more people, they even ask can they join in.

Tax dodging would not be even on the political agenda were it not for UK Uncut. There is still a long way to go, tax dodgers are still tax dodging.

Climate Rush have always carried out creative direct action.

Clones of The Trews not a good idea. Far better people establish their own news networks and informations services.

Follow keithpp.wordpress.com ie this blog, to learn what you will not learn elsewhere, and at the same time come across some great music. And Dark Mountain collection on Medium.

Work outside the system. If you play by their rules, you play their game and they are in control.

In Germany, local people are taking back control of their own energy grids. They can guarantee the feed-in tariffs for local alternative power generation, the profits go back into the local community, they can accelerate the trend away from fossil fuels and into renewables.

A coordinated mass withdrawal of funds from one of the banks, trigger a loss of confidence.

Education needs to be improved. Teach the basics, how to garden, how to cook, how to think, how to question.

Would we have austerity, Shock Doctrine, slash and burn of public cuts, if people were to question? Would we have the rubbish lying corrupt politicians who do not act for us?

We need the Right of Recall to remove from office corrupt politicians.

We need local involvement, people deciding, participatory democracy, not corrupt politicians dictating to us, the people reduced to election fodder.

For example, mass closure of public libraries in Lincolnshire only stopped by action in the High Court, then Lincolnshire County Council changing its constitution to deny the people the right to petition the council and trigger a debate.

Stop the rail fares rip-off!

farefail at Kings Cross

It has now become an annual event. First working day of the New Year and rail passengers are subjected to a hike in rail fares far exceeding inflation.

We are told it is to pay for an improvement in rail services, and yet for those using the trains, far from seeing an improvement see long term decline and deteriorating services.

There used to be trains around 1300 and 1400 from Kings Cross, change at Newark, connecting train waiting and on to Lincoln.

Now one train at 1330, 45 minutes wait at Newark for a train to Lincoln.

December 2012, the idiots manning the barrier at Newark claimed it had always been thus and the service had improved! They made the same ridiculous claim December 2012.

This morning Climate Rush and others mounted a demonstration at Kings Cross against rail fare misery.

2013 is the tenth successive year rail fares have risen well above inflation.

Tamsin Omond talking about Climate Change

Malicious prosecution of Rushettes dropped

The Toxettes performing Britney Spears' Toxic at London City Airport

We’re so proud of the rushers who were wrongly arrested whilst dancing on a public footpath. Their dance was ‘Toxic’ because airports are. — Climate Rush

I wasn’t allowed to go to Climate Rush tonight, I didn’t even have a halloumi sandwich. Can I have my life back pls Essex police? I miss it. — AndrewTobert

Yet another malicious prosecution of peaceful protesters. It is difficult to see how trespass can be commited when crossing a site on a public footpath, even if the site to be crossed happened to be Southend Airport.

Luckily the case has been dropped.

The Rushettes (Climate Rush’s musical alter-ego) went to Southend Airport to protest against its expansion and to encourage Southend Council to invest in more green infrastructure to provide sustainable job opportunities and protect their residents’ quality of life. The Rushettes were (WRONGFULLY) arrested, released after 16 hours with bail conditions not to communicate with one another. One month later these charges were dropped.

This morning the Toxettes performed Britney Spears’ Toxic at London City Airport ahead of City Hall enquiry.

– Singing stewardesses at London Southend Airport
– Southend Airport runway protesters arrested
– SAEN grateful to Plane Stupid protesters

– Fares fair rail fares protest
– Climate Rush Soho roadblock
– Climate Rush’s Unfair Fare Dodge

Fares fair rail fares protest

this is our railway - we might use it if we could afford it

Waterloo Station protest

Today we learnt of the massive hike in rail fares that will take place in January – Retail Price Index of 5% plus 3%.

Welfare payments and penions are based on the much lower Consumer Price Index, but not rail fares.

Year on year, every January we have a hike in rail fares. Each year the excuse is the same, it is to pay for an improvement in rail service.

I do not know about anyone else, but I have yet to see an improvement in rail service.

Try travelling at weekend. You pay for a train and get a clapped out bus.

– Weekend rail works

Today at Waterloo Station as commuters arrived crammed in like rats, Climate Rush, Fair Fares Now and others mounted a protest against the hike in rail fares.

– Rail fare rises of 13% ‘may break government’, campaigners warn

Climate Rush Soho roadblock

pollution kills

have the Met got nothing better to do

CO2 kills

let London breathe

“Boris’s policies are failing us. It’s a no-brainer – Boris needs to get the most polluting vehicles out of the most polluted places.” — Alice Haworth-Booth, spokesperson for Climate Rush

Last week Climate Rush mounted a roadblock in Soho to highlight London’s polluted air.

It is not only London, other towns and cities, for example Brighton, also have pollution hotspots.

– London’s polluted air
– Roadbloggin’
– Climate Rush stop London traffic during Pollution protest
– It makes me sick
– Move over climate change: air pollution is the new issue in town
– Air pollution hot spots in Brighton and Hove revealed

London’s polluted air

Alice wants cean air for London

public health warning

dirty air causes 4267 deaths a year in London

I do not like visting London. It is noisy, dirty and polluted.

At least one group is calling for London to be made cycle friendly not car friendly.

Yesterday morning, Climate Rush visted two Mayoral candidates, Ken and Boris, to ask what they are doing about bad air quality. Wednesday, ie tomorrow, they will be mounting roadblocks to highlight the number of deaths from air pollution (Soho Square, 6-30pm Wednesday 13 July 2011). [see Roadblock – 13th July 2011]

– Environmental activists give London Mayoral candidates a 7am wake-up call
– Help us defend your right to breathe
– GRIDLOCK: ‘DIE-IN’ protest to close major London junction

There’s no Planet B – Climate Rush mount dawn raid

Climate Rush crime scene

Well done Climate Rush who this morning gave two Cabinet Ministers an early morning wake-up call. Between 5.30am and 7.00am Philip Hammond MP and Vince Cable MP had their homes wrapped in ‘Climate Crime Scene’ tape as part of Climate Rush’s doorstep protest.

On their first day back in Parliament after half term Ministers were called on to attend the United Nation Climate Change Conference in Bonn, which began yesterday and will last two weeks. Climate Rush stuck banners to Cable’s and Hammond’s house reading ‘THERE’S NO PLANET B – SOLVE CLIMATE CHANGE’.

Both Vince Cable MP and Philip Hammond MP clashed with Chris Huhne MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change over proposals for the fourth carbon budget. The Prime Minister eventually stepped in, supporting Chris Huhne and the Climate Change Act – legislation passed by the last Government.

Demands for greater Government action on climate change follows news that the greatest level of greenhouse gas emissions ever were released last year, contrary to expectations that the global recession would decrease global emissions. [1]

Philip Hammond MP and the Department for Transport has been condemned by environmentalists as Hammond is opposed to the inclusion of Canadian Tar Sands oil in the EU fuel directive. England and Holland are the only EU countries opposing the inclusion of Tar Sands from this directive. Extraction of crude oil from the Tar Sands is up to three times more carbon intensive than other crude oil extraction methods [2]. Hammond also plans to hike rail fares by 31% over the course of this Government.

Before election Vince Cable assured voters that economic growth would go hand in hand with green investment, however he now says that there will be no new investment in low-carbon technology until the second half of 2020. [2]

A blue chalk line was marked on the brickwork of the Ministers’ homes to show the danger of floods due to sea-level rises.

Tamsin Omond, founder of Climate Rush, said:

Climate Rush is ready to hold this Government to its promise to be the greenest ever. We need a roadmap with policies that unite the needs of the environment with the need for economic growth. This Government might be considering a plan B for the economy. They don’t have that luxury with our environment: there is no planet B. Cabinet ministers that oppose these measures are gambling with our future. We need to prepare for the impacts of climate change and we need to limit our carbon emissions now. There’s no future for this or any Government on a dead planet.

It is easy to see why the LibDems were all but wiped out at the local elections in May. It was Vince Cable who helped pushed through the massive hike im student fees last year. More recently Vince Cable has threatened to push through legislation to make industrial action against public spending cuts illegal.

Climate Rush is an environmental action group which models itself on the Suffragettes. They have mounted over 20 environmental protests including storming Parliament with 1000 members dressed as Suffragettes; closing down Heathrow Terminal 1 by holding an Edwardian-style picnic and dumping a large pile of manure on Jeremy Clarkson’s lawn. They aim to raise awareness about climate change and encourage action to prevent it.

Notes

1: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/29/carbon-emissions-nuclearpower
2: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/pollution-fears-as-uk-blocks-european-ban-on-fuel-from-tar-sands-2291598.html
3: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/10/adair-turner-carbon-budgets-row

Climate Rush activists protest at Tate Britain over BP sponsorship

Climate Rush activists protest Tate Britain over BP sponsorship

Climate Rush Tate Britain

Today (20 April 2011) Climate Rush activists demonstrated outside the Tate Britain, which is sponsored by BP, to mourn those that lost lives, as well as environmental damage resulting from the Deepwater Horizon disaster which began on this day last year.

– Climate Rush’s Unfair Fare Dodge
– Human Cost – Tate Britain Performance, charcoal and sunflower oil
– The Great BP-Sponsored Tate Modern Sleep In
– No Tarsands action at the BP AGM
– “5 Million Barrels of Oil Does Not Disappear”: Author, Activist Antonia Juhasz on the BP Spill, One Year Later
– BP’s criminal negligence exposed
– BP Imposter Crashes Oil Spill Summit

Climate Rush’s Unfair Fare Dodge

On Saturday 16th April Climate Rush, took a day trip to Canterbury and paid a fair fare, rather than the actual fair, to protest against the 31% hike in ticket price that the government are planning to bring in over the next 5 years.

– Climate Rush activists protest at Tate Britain over BP sponsorship