Extinction Rebellion call off planned disruption at Heathrow Airport

As new alliance between Extinction Rebellion and XR Youth is forged, Extinction Rebellion has reported that their planned drone attacks at Heathrow in September have been put on hold.

XR Youth are a group established to demanded that young people be supported in co-creating a new and healthier way forward.

In a statement, they said: “Proposed action at Heathrow Airport [will] be dropped as [XR Youth] do not support an action at Heathrow at this time and in this way. It was unanimously agreed that the process for attempting to decide to have an action at Heathrow had been divisive, poorly conducted and left many people across Extinction Rebellion feeling unheard and exhausted.

“Extinction Rebellion has therefore decided that the action will neither be condoned nor supported as designed.”

This is a relief to those travelling through Heathrow at the busiest time of the year.

The statement continued: “It was agreed that Extinction Rebellion do need to include actions that are highly disruptive, in which some people are willing to take personal risks with their own liberty or well-being in order to highlight the severity of the crisis. Such actions will inevitably be controversial and there will be a variety of views on them. The new approaches from XR Youth will help guide Extinction Rebellion UK through these challenges in the future.”

If action does take place at Heathrow Airport, Extinction Rebellion has stated that “it will be by an independent group outside Extinction Rebellion.”

Despite this, Heathrow’s future is still uncertain. With the appointment of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister he has remained ambiguous as to his stance on the third runway expansion.