Are Extinction Rebellion changing tactics? Thousands gathered outside parliament for huge protest
Thousands from across Britain gathered for the first day of 's 'The Big One' - a four-day protest with minimal disruption. flowed almost freely at the Westminster event today as activists kept largely to sidewalks. Police on foot and horseback kept watch as the protestors waved banners, chatted and ate sandwiches. Rebekah and Steve Compton, who travelled from North Devon to join the event - backed by more than 200 social and environmental justice organisations - said they thought the new approach made sense after public pushback against disruptive protests. 'The change in strategy is what's needed. Doing the same thing repeatedly is not going to work,' said Mr Compton. 'Now it's about engaging people.' The quieter event, which proceeded without large-scale arrests and disruption, brought out many supporters who had not previously joined climate protests. Felicity Aris, 24, who works at Bates Wells, joined the event with three colleagues all holding signs reading 'Business shouldn't cost the Earth'. 'I was more inclined to come today because they said it wasn't a scary protest,' she said, noting she had been happy to spot potential clients among the crowd. Zoe Kavanagh, a Nottingham art teacher, also took her children Bella, 11, and Stanley, nine, out of school on Friday to take part in the event - their second climate protest. 'I wrote ''climate emergency'' as the reason on the form,' she said. The family first heard of Extinction Rebellion (XR) last year, when they stopped at a T-shirt screen-printing stand run by the group near the Tate Modern art museum in London. 'I had my eyes shut for 49 years,' said Zoe. 'Now I want my kids to be surrounded by people who know about this stuff. It's good for them to see I'm not a crackpot mum.' Stanley, with a homemade 'I'm here for my future' banner tied around the shoulders of his orange rain jacket, said he thought politicians were not moving against fossil fuels 'because they're getting money from it'. Ezra Mifsud, nine, another child at the event and a first-time climate protester, said he thought Britain's lawmakers could learn a few things from the crowd, which included stalls handing out climate-change pamphlets and books. 'They should come out and see for themselves what's happening,' he said, gesturing to Westminster. Activists found their usual protest ground - the square immediately opposite Parliament - closed off by wire fence panels in a reported attempt to keep the grass presentable for King Charles' upcoming Coronation. Instead they walked with their signs and banners around the square and in front of Parliament, while activists gave speeches and artists performed. Sophy Allen, Ezra's mother and a scientist working with Natural England, a conservation body under the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said she was happy that Extinction Rebellion had 'arranged something open and accessible to families'. 'We need to find a space for everyone to have a voice,' she said. Allen, also a protester with the more disruptive Just Stop Oil movement, said she thought confrontation was still crucial to advance climate policy. 'I personally feel direct action is a key part of this - to deal with the urgency that is obvious,' she said. 'I think about the shame I'd be feeling in 20 years if I didn't do something.' Despite Extinction Rebellion's efforts to appeal to a wider audience, many of those at Friday's protest - like Allen - were either already part of the social movement or people whose jobs gave them an insight into the scale of growing climate risks. Andy Bishop, 46, who works on reducing emissions from building flood-resilience infrastructure projects - 'a lot of concrete', he rued - said fear had brought him to Westminster on Friday from his home in Kent. 'I'm here as a terrified citizen. I'm petrified for my kids' future,' he said. He called joining protests 'therapy, really - feeling like I'm doing something, whether it has the desired effect or not'. He said he was not ready to be arrested as a climate protester, adding: 'I have a job, a mortgage to pay', even if that amounted to him feeling 'slight cowardice.' 'How far do you push yourself across the line to make a statement?' he asked.