Extinction Rebellion activists block BBC London HQ as week of protests continues
Extinction Rebellion activists have blockaded the BBC’s central London headquarters as a week of disruption in the capital continues.
BBC staff members reported being unable to get in to New Broadcasting House on Friday morning as dozens of protesters camped outside the main entrance with banners urging the corporation to end its “silence” on climate change.
No one in no one out. Locked down. pic.twitter.com/mWLhwmVddX
— Paul Lewis (@paullewismoney) October 11, 2019
Financial journalist Paul Lewis reported being barred from entering the building near Oxford Circus Tube station, tweeting: “No one in no one out. Locked down.”
The demonstration is the latest in a week of planned protests which has already seen more than 1,000 people arrested since Monday.
Largely peaceful Extinction Rebellion demo outside Broadcasting House this morning. (This just before 8am, before the police arrived in numbers). pic.twitter.com/WK8GWTtvcE
— Alistair Coleman (@alistaircoleman) October 11, 2019
On Thursday, demonstrations focused on London City Airport, where protesters attempted a “Hong Kong-style occupation” of the terminal building, with hundreds blocking the main entrance.
One demonstrator, former Paralympic cyclist James Brown, climbed on top of a British Airways jet, prompting criticism from Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, who described the act as “reckless, stupid and dangerous”.
