Extinction Rebellion Day 2

When I arrived outside Downing Street at 8.30 this morning I was surprised that all the tents from last night, and more, were still standing (extra). We spent the rush hour offering commuters, civil servants and politicians flyers saying sorry for the disruption. Some thanked us for what we are doing, some took them with a smile, some refused eye contact and only one told me to 'fuck off'.

I overheard a Guardian journalist asking someone what they thought of Boris Johnson having described us yesterday as 'uncooperative crusties' and I asked if I could also answer that question. Yes I could. My second media interview in two days.

I visited the camp in Horseguards Road, where a someone was serving tea from a supermarket trolley, then the camp in Trafalgar Square which was feeling increasingly like a festival. Back at base I found that the Hare Krishna people had prepared us all a generous and delicious hot lunch and learnt that 1,000 young trees had been laid out near parliament, all labelled, one for each MP to find, take back to their constituency and plant.

Throughout the afternoon Jill Mead, a Guardian photographer, and I gradually homed in on each other so she could photograph me for the article which had already appeared online (my intended words slightly garbled - though that was probably me in the heat of the moment rather than the journalist, whose shorthand was impressive) but at 2.30 the carnival atmosphere turned ominous as the Parliament end of Whitehall was cordoned off and a phalanx of police officers started advancing slowly. A street band went out to meet them and was gradually repulsed. There was a stand-off at the barricade for a long while, then the police suddenly formed into a crocodile, pulled apart the barriers, marched forwards and started cutting banners, pulling up tents, snapping poles and carrying everything back behind their lines. At the same moment the heavens opened with torrential rain. Drama and adrenaline. 

Most of us kept our distance from the most arrest-risking parts of the action but some brave people lay in their tents or 'locked on' to each other (put one hand each into a tube - just visible between the pair lying on the ground here - and used carabiners to attach their wrists to a piece of metal inside). Guaranteed arrest. They then lay, cold and wet, waiting for the police to reach them to saw through the tubes and release them. I was struck by how much the attention and concern of the red rebels moved and supported them, as I have been hugely impressed by the importance XR generally places on care and support for self and others.

I took the evening off to see some rather more conventional drama on a proper stage with a friend then around 10pm we revisited the camps. Astonishingly, Whitehall was still blocked (though by police) and some tents had reappeared. Like everyone else, I wait to see what tomorrow brings.

(Still battling with a fuzzy camera on an appalling, outdated phone which writes random text messages when raindrops hit the screen.)