Extinction Rebellion protest against Barclays Bank in Marlow causes High Street standstill

The activists, who are part of Extinction Rebellion, held signs, banners and took part in a ‘die in’ (this is where protestors lie on the floor to represent dying creatures), outside the bank, after the company revealed they have invested money into the use of fossil fuels which damages the environment.

The protest on Friday is just one of many that are currently taking place all over the world, with High Wycombe being next the destination for student protestors to share their views in Bucks, with campaigners due to demonstrate outside the town’s cinema ‘Cineworld’ on the morning of June 28.

Zoe Hatch, the Green Party’s parliamentary candidate for Beaconsfield, who was present at the protest said: “We’ve targeted Barclays because we want them to stop investing in fossil fuels and we want them to invest their money into renewable energy.

“All of us here are family people, we have day jobs, we would love to not be here doing this, but we feel that our moral obligation is to stand up for our children’s future.

“People might think our actions were a bit extreme, but they haven’t been made aware that we are in an existential crisis and everybody’s lives are dependent on us, as we want to get to net zero of carbon emissions by 2025.

“I think everyone can agree that politics is in a complete mess now, so we want to take that decision-making process away from politicians and put them into the hands of people and that means having a citizens assembly.”

Approximately 25 demonstrators stood outside Barclays and offered food, leaflets and stickers to pedestrians whilst explaining their actions.

The environmental enthusiasts then sat on the main road in Marlow’s High Street when the traffic lights had turned green.

This caused a long tailback of traffic in both directions with many motorists shouting obscenities at the protestors, with Extinction Rebellion (XR) replicating this every 10 to 15 minutes.

The group then marched down the High Street with drums expressing their displeasure about the current climate crisis.

Freya Ruperal, an 18-year-old student from Henley College was also at the protest said: “I think it’s important that we do make a change to stop climate change, even if it’s the simple things like turning off the water when you brush your teeth, putting your clothes on eco wash or using public transport because it’s the small things like that can really make a difference.

“Our carbon front print, which is the bad gas we put into the environment, would decrease rapidly and this would reduce the amount of flooding in our coastal areas, as we are the cause of it, in the next 50 years because as we stand, nearly 150 million people could have their homes under water in that time due to climate change.

“I do think people will listen to XR (Extinction Rebellion) because we’ve done stuff like this in London and even though they weren’t well received by the public, they gained a lot of attention, and it’s lead to the start of small groups like us.”

Extinction Rebellion were formed in October 2018 and they have demonstrated all across the UK and beyond.