Dame Emma Thompson has rallied cheering Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists blocking Londonâs busiest shopping street and declared âour planet is in serious troubleâ.
The Oscar-winning British actress climbed onto a pink boat at Oxford Circus and addressed crowds on Good Friday as the campaign group declared a separate protest at Heathrow Airport was over.
âWe are here in this little island of sanity and it makes me so happy to be able to join you all and to add my voice to the young people here who have inspired a whole new movement,â she said to cheers of support.
Several hours later, shortly before 5.30pm, after protesters were removed from the boat, the Metropolitan Police said arrest numbers for the day had reached 106, bringing the total since Monday to 682.
âThe serious disruption the demonstrations are causing to people in London and beyond is unacceptable and we completely understand the concern it is causing to those who are disrupted by it,â a tweet said.
Speaking to reporters at Oxford Circus, Dame Emma said her generation had failed to protect the planet for young people.
The actress, who also joined demonstrators on Thursday, added: âWe have seriously failed them and our planet is in serious trouble, we have much, much less time than we thought.
âI have seen the evidence for myself and I really care about my children and grandchildren enough to want to be here today to stand with the next generation.â
The Love Actually actress also challenged critics who have said demonstrators are using the protests to have fun.
âIf you canât have fun whilst saving the planet, whatâs the point?â she asked.
âProtest should always have a sense of joy in it because what we are protesting about is saving this extraordinary home of ours and also celebrating the passion and inspiring energy of this young generation.â
Shortly after Dame Emmaâs address, dozens of police officers encircled the boat and told bystanders there was an ordinance to clear the area.
Officers closed off the whole junction of Oxford Street and Regent Street, letting people out but not in.
Dame Emma left the protest before specialist officers arrived to remove people from the frame of the boat.
A handful of activists were carried or led away by officers, while people who tried to break into the cordon were pushed back.
Earlier, on Friday morning, about 20 activists, most of them under 17, had staged a brief demonstration on roads near Heathrow Airport.
Standing close to a tunnel which leads to terminals two and three, they unfurled a black banner with the message: âAre we the last generation?â
Several police officers watched over the group before an XR spokesman announced before midday there were no further plans to cause disruption at the airport.
All roads remained open during the demonstration, which is part of a two-week campaign that began in central London on Monday.
Heathrow previously said it was âworking with authoritiesâ to remain business as usual.
Waterloo Bridge has now been blocked by demonstrators for five days.
Ten people had been charged by the Met by Thursday night and three others arrested by British Transport Police were remanded in custody after they appeared in court accused of obstructing trains at Canary Wharf.
Routes are also blocked around Parliament Square and Marble Arch, and Home Secretary Sajid Javid has urged police to use the âfull force of the lawâ.
âI totally condemn any protesters who are stepping outside the boundaries of the law,â Mr Javid said.
âThey have no right to cause misery for the millions of people who are trying to lead their daily lives.â
Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, told BBC Breakfast the protests were âvery, very difficultâ to handle and could cost âmillionsâ.
He said: âThe sufferers will be the communities in the local boroughs where officers are being taken from the community areas and the funding and money has to be found to deal with what we are doing.â
XR has pledged to continue causing disruption until its demands are met.
They want the Government to declare a climate emergency and take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
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