#Driving Lesson Hallam

[bikashdas]

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[swobe]

The Curious Case of Mr Broccoli

Senior Political Editor, swobe, looks at the internal politics of Extinction Rebellion UK and whether their recent antics are at all damaging to the Green Industrial Revolution. 

With the Leader of the Opposition promising to grow more cabbages in order to fulfil his Green New Deal; Metropolitan Police Officers arresting a piece of Extinction-Rebellion-branded broccoli; and middle-aged men competing to see who can piss off the most Canning Town residents in one sitting, you would be right to think that London is burning. Metaphorically, that is, at least for now. 

Image of XR & Animal Rebellion’s Mr Broccoli AKA Roland Everson being arrested during Animal Rebellion’s non-violent protests. (Picture: Twitter @ Journotopia)

Global environmental movement Extinction Rebellion’s (XR) two-week shutdown of SW1, commencing October 7, was vehemently opposed by the Metropolitan Police. Roger Hallam (XR Co-Founder) found himself amongst the key rebels arrested during a police raid of XR’s Kennington bunker the weekend preceding the shutdown. To the Met’s dismay, this attempt to limit the shutdown’s reach was in vain, with disruption persisting [x] days later. Gail Bradbrook (XR Co-Founder) has gotten herself in on the arrest action too, having scaled the entrance of the Department for Transport’s offices on October 15. 

The key to XR’s approach is their uncompromising attitude towards non-violent protest. XR is a social movement not predicated on simply burning down the house: as such they have been extremely careful not to rise to the Met’s violent provocations. 

Speaking with Novara Media, one rebel suggested: “We have to double down our efforts on non-violence, as it could be so easy to tip into a slightly different energy and that is what they’re angling for.”

There is no doubt that there are politicians, companies and academics hoping that this is where the rebellion will meet its downfall. However, as yet, the movement has successfully navigated a bureaucratic obstacle course; rebels have persevered (relatively) unscathed in the face of a blanket ban on protests called by the Met, and their peaceful occupations continue to win out in the face of these attempts to quash social disorder. XR is dedicated to its action plan: occupy centres of power until action is implemented, and exclude the working class in the process. Wait, what?

XR’s commitment to transcending class (if we overlook the risible performance art, that is) came into question as a video emerged of two activists climbing atop a rush-hour train in Canning Town. They attempted to halt the capitalist system by playing an extended game of Subway Surfers while the train idled, and a mass of working people fretted over whether they’d be late for work, have their pay docked, and be able to afford meals for their kids that week. I’m sure we all agree that this is a massive farce, and so do XR, who have (thankfully) condemned the two men, who received a mostly-justified beating on the platform. This is one of the many lessons that the movement will undoubtedly have to learn from: absurdities like this one will isolate those XR should aim to empower, and even turn the converted away.

Dipping back into the performative element of XR, events took a bizarre turn when broccoli-identifying eco-activist Roland Everson’s arrest went viral, winning him infamy among the country’s gammon-faced right-wing press and guaranteeing a seat on Good Morning Britain (GMB) across from said gammon-faced right-wing press. It is believed that Everson is an important figure within XR. One can only assume his history of anti-establishment activism had been duly noted, not least after his naked protest in the Commons caused Ed Miliband’s eyebrows to lift a whole inch and a half.

Everson approached his GMB interview bluntly, taking the opportunity to reveal to Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid that he has always been a piece of broccoli, inspiring Morgan to reflect on his recent decision to come out as a “two-spirit neutrois, pan-gender penguin” during one of his many transphobic rants. Everson neglected to detail the depths of the ecological rebellion and foreshadow tales of woe from the ongoing Sixth Extinction, challenging expectations of his television appearance. Mr Broccoli successfully made a mockery of the mainstream media which so excitedly dubs him ‘absurd’ and runs exposees on how he - shock horror! - drives a van and on occasion has a long hot bath after a hard day dressed in a weighty broccoli costume. Classic Daily Mail. 

If the media and the Met’s combined effort towards a broccoli cull can teach us anything at all, it is that the government is taking XR seriously. Pre-emptive, forceful tactics of this nature are typically reserved for extreme cases: they border on an infringement of rights, making it apparent that XR are considered either a risk to public property, to the community, or to the powers that be. This begs the question, who are our police serving and protecting? 

You may have seen Boris Johnson’s pledge to a recruitment drive for the police force, providing a lovely bit of first-week publicity for the Etonian, as well as a political smokescreen for what can only be a genuine fear of civil unrest. Our current political climate has created a palpable sense of public frustration, and it is likely this pledge is in place to combat the predicted potential civil disobedience that the establishment see on the horizon. In the eyes of the economic and political elite,  2020 is set to be a year characterised by large-scale civil disobedience, and rightly so. As a student body we should take courage from the XR movement as we head into this formative year for the UK. Their methods, albeit problematic, are making quite a stir.

Speaking at Byline Festival in August 2019, Roger Hallam spoke powerfully about XR as a necessary, direct vessel of social action by which urgent social change would be achieved. Using Complexity Theory, Hallam described how “under consistent pressure from an outside force, a system will resist and hold together until suddenly it will crack and bifurcate.” Not only does this explanation clearly highlight XR’s overarching aim, it also offers a deeper meaning behind this ecological activism. This movement is not just responding to the degradation of our environment, like many others before it have. It is highlighting a fundamental breakdown in the social contract and trying to alert the UK, and beyond, to the fact that we have been hoodwinked by an agenda of neo-liberal politics.

With a general election looming in the UK, XR find themselves bearing additional weight: hopefully this will be sufficient to wean the UK’s political mouthpiece off of the sour teat that is Brexit. The Labour party have heeded the action of XR, and their manifesto looks to be centred around a Green New Deal, championing a Green Industrial Revolution, where our industry is taken to task and change is demanded, not dreamt about. However, it is still likely that Johnson will try to lead the Conservative election campaign with Brexit politics, a relative insignificance when compared to the permanent effects of the ecological disaster that XR prophesy.  

For all the criticisms you can level at XR, it is the actions by movements like this that are going to shape this new era of UK politics, so strap in, register to vote and do not, I repeat, DO NOT jump on top of a rush hour tube.

[bikashdas]

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