Planning for Rebellion Part Two

There was a bit of discussion about how to hold a non-violent protest. One of the things that was seen to be important was music - if people are singing and music is playing it's harder to be violent. There are songs and choruses on the XR website, and people with white sashes will be forming an impromptu choir. I mentioned the Quakers protesting at the recent Arms Fair in London, who sat down and held a prayer meeting outside the venue.
Someone asked if this was the right time to hold climate protests, considering the present political climate in the UK. The considered answer was that all the problems over Brexit seemed like a petty squabble compared with the importance of saving the planet. Whatever people's politics are, we all need a habitable planet to live on. In one way, this is a perfect time to protest about climate change, both because of the short time we have to make a difference according to the IPCC report and the volatile nature of British politics at the moment - there may be a General Election soon, and the situation seems to be changing all the time. It was seen as a positive sign that Jane Dodds, the new MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, came to the Brecon protest last week, and was talking about holding a Citizen's Assembly to talk about what can be done in the local area to mitigate climate change.

There was a slide presentation then, from the Extinction Rebellion website, showing what the plan is for the coming protests. They also had a kit list to hand out, with essential items to take along for the people going to London. It was pointed out that most protesters don't make their plans public before they do the protest.
The focus is on government departments this time, with the Hay contingent planning to be part of the much larger XR Wales group, which will be gathering around the Home Office, along with XR Bristol (apparently they've got 500 people coming), XR Rainbow and XR Farmers, who have a pink tractor! I think they said that the communal kitchens would be in that area too.
Each group has a different theme - around the Home Office it's "We are all Crew" - in other words everyone is there to help out. There's going to be a Faith group on Lambeth Bridge, which will also be for Global Food Justice, Re-Wilding groups, a Peace group, and others. Other organisations, like Friends of the Earth, will also be involved. There will also be Non-Violence training sessions going on throughout the protest, and there are also local training days in the days leading up to the protest, at The Koffie Pot in Hereford, the Muse in Brecon, Ross-on-Wye and Bishop's Castle.
On the middle weekend of the protest there will be a time of Grief and Community, coming together to remember people who have died because of climate change and pausing to reflect about what they're doing. The idea is that this will give the protesters fresh impetus for the second week, which will be focussed on Global Justice. The Queen's Speech, to start the next session of Parliament, will be on the 14th October, in the middle of the protests.

The meeting then broke up into groups for actual planning of when people were going to London and what they were going to be doing. As I won't be going, that wasn't something I could participate in.
However, the chap who wanted to walk to London has set off, despite the appalling weather!