We got cancelled - by the police

Did you see what we did last week? We were out on the streets at Extinction Rebellion’s Trafalgar Square site making the link between the climate crisis and our undemocratic constitution. 

It was a great event – with dozens of people exploring a vision for a new constitution that protects both people and planet. We planned to run the workshop again this week, to give more people a chance to bring their imagination and ideas to the conversation. You can read more about our workshop here.

But the powers that be don’t want to see these conversations happening.

The police have imposed draconian restrictions on protest, banning “any assembly linked to the Extinction Rebellion Autumn Uprising”. This leaves anyone involved in XR protests, even school children wearing XR stickers, facing arrest simply for exercising their rights of freedom of assembly and to protest.

This heavy-handed approach is an attempt to silence criticism of the government, and has been denounced by Netpol and Amnesty UK. It’s meant we’ve had to cancel our workshop – but we’ll keep fighting to make the constitution a topic of national conversation.

We already know the state has too much power to limit peaceful protest and to stifle debate. Only by changing the system comprehensively, permanently rebalancing political power, and securing our rights in a new constitution can we win a better society where everyone can have a fair say in politics.

We don’t know where or when our next workshop on the streets will be – but we’ll keep working to get people talking about the better society they want to see, and to build a movement for a new constitution.

They can’t stop us being heard.

Thank you for standing with us in these extraordinary times.