Emma Thompson arrived at Marble Arch yesterday afternoon to support climate change protesters and urged others to join their numbers.
What she might not have mentioned to them is that she had just flown back to Heathrow Airport from Los Angeles the day before.
Many of the protesters have demanded that the Government limit how many times individuals can fly each year.
Extinction Rebellion ringleader Robin Boardman-Pattison declared during a television interview this week that flying ‘should only be used in emergencies’ – despite his own apparently extensive travels.
A flight from Los Angeles International Airport to London Heathrow generates at least 1.67 tonnes of CO2.
Dame Emma Thompson was at the Extinction Rebellion protest in Marble Arch on Thursday afternoon and in an interview with Sky News called on people to join the protest as police attempted to enforce the law – But only the previous day she had stepped off the plane from LA (pictured right arriving in London)
Heathrow Airport say they are ‘working with the authorities’ to address any threat of protests from climate change activists in London which could disrupt the airport
Miss Thompson said she had wanted to join the protests sooner but it had been her 60th birthday on Monday.
Dressed in black dungarees and wearing a green sticker bearing the Extinction Rebellion logo on her chest, she said: ‘I was not here on April 15 because I was with my husband because I was 60.
‘I absolutely wanted to be arrested on my 60th birthday but I haven’t quite managed that.
‘I bet that will happen in the future.’
It comes as Heathrow Airport said they are ‘working with the authorities’ to address any threat of protests from climate change activists which could disrupt the airport.
The Oscar and Bafta-winning actress added: ‘I am so proud and thrilled to be part of Extinction Rebellion, a new movement that has come up behind all the old ones that I’ve been part of since I was 16 years old.
‘A movement that’s telling it like it is and saying to government ‘look, there’s no more time. You can’t lie and you can’t stall any longer’.
‘And we will occupy until you take action because that is the only way we are going to save our planet. It’s hard, it’s inconvenient sometimes but it’s much more inconvenient to leave a planet that’s so completely destroyed that our grandchildren will be up against things that we cannot even imagine.’
Her spokesman said: ‘She had to fly home at any rate, it was just earlier than she thought she could have. At the moment, that is our only available and practical means of trans-global travel.’
More than 500 people have now been arrested with police complaining their tactic of going limp and requiring multiple officers to carry them away is stretching resources thin
Protestors drumming makeshift instruments including pots and pans (left) marched down Oxford Street to reinforce the protest at Oxford Circus this evening after a massive show of force by the Metropolitan Police (right) which looked set finally to remove the demonstrations from the city centre site they have held since Monday morning
A samba band drumming anything they could lay their hands on arrived to augment the Oxford Circus protest after police moved in
The crowd at Oxford Circus around a pink boat erected by climate change protesters swelled after officers poured into the area
More than 500 people have now been arrested since Monday morning in the Extinction Rebellion protests bringing central London to a standstill.
But last night the left-wing activists vowed to ‘raise the bar’ by targeting hundreds of thousands of tourists jetting off for the weekend as they prepared to ‘shut down’ Heathrow Airport.
More than 1,000 police are being deployed each day but have failed to restore order – leading to claims they are surrendering the streets.
The climate change activists, from Left-wing group Extinction Rebellion, expect to be joined by thousands more supporters off work for Easter. As pressure grew on the authorities to act yesterday:
■ Home Secretary Sajid Javid urged police to use the ‘full force of the law’;
■ London Mayor Sadiq Khan blamed Government cuts and asked for more cash;
■ Officers caught dancing and skateboarding with activists received a dressing down;
■ Only eight protesters have been charged, with hundreds of others released as resources are so squeezed;
■ Company bosses complained the chaos has forced them to lay off staff members.
Leaked messages, apparently sent by privately-educated ringleader Robin Boardman-Pattison, 21, yesterday laid out the plot to cause Bank Holiday travel chaos.
They said: ‘Tomorrow we raise the bar. We are going to shut down Heathrow. For the Bank Holiday, we are halting our swarming disruption and turning our focus onto the aviation industry.’
Climate activists from an Extinction Rebellion demonstration at Oxford Circus, London. Londoners faced a fourth day of disruption in the capital
Extinction Rebellion demonstrators at Oxford Circus on the fourth day of disruption in the capital
Scotland Yard has warned environmental protesters will face a ‘robust response’ if they target Heathrow Airport tomorrow as threatened.
The force said it has ‘strong plans’ in place involving a significant number of officers to deal with the planned Extinction Rebellion (XR) action on Good Friday.
The airport said it is ‘working with the authorities’ to address the threat of mass disruption, while Home Secretary Sajid Javid has urged police to use the ‘full force of the law’.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave said the protests were ‘increasing in intensity’ and warned demonstrators against targeting Heathrow Airport.
He said: ‘Protesters can expect a robust police response. We are determined to keep the airport operating.’
He added that although the Met were aware of the planned protests across central London, they had not known what scale it would be. ‘That has developed as the days have passed,’ he said.
Extinction Rebellion has said the current protest will end on April 29.
More than 500 arrests have now been made. Pictured: An Environmental campaigner confronts an officer at Oxford Circus
A climate activist is carried away by police officers from an Extinction Rebellion demonstration at Oxford Circus
Shortly after Dame Emma spoke to Sky News a large samba band arrived at Oxford Circus, which police were attempting to clear
Mr Ephgrave said: ‘The one thing about this protest that is absolutely true is that there has been no violence whatsoever or any disorder.
‘The protests have been good natured, the protesters have been good natured albeit it has proved a very difficult challenge to police.’
A Met statement added: ‘The airport is part of our national infrastructure and we will not allow the illegal activities of protesters to cause further disruption and misery to thousands of travellers, many of them families, over Easter.
‘We would urge any protester planning to attend Heathrow to strongly reconsider.’
A spokesman for XR said activists will be staging protest action at Heathrow on Friday, with around 500,000 people expected to fly out for Easter breaks over the bank holiday weekend.
On Wednesday evening a large group of cyclists carrying XR banners and chanting congregated outside New Broadcasting House, the BBC’s headquarters, demanding it ‘tell the truth’ about climate change.
Speaking after a briefing with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick on Thursday, the Home Secretary said she had told him that more than 1,000 officers were being deployed to the streets of the capital each day of the protests.
‘Let me be clear – I totally condemn any protesters who are stepping outside the boundaries of the law,’ Mr Javid said.
‘They have no right to cause misery for the millions of people who are trying to lead their daily lives. Unlawful behaviour will not be tolerated. I expect the police to take a firm stance and use the full force of the law.’
Scotland Yard said officers have been asked to work 12-hour shifts, while rest days and leave has been cancelled.
The force said that although the Violent Crime Task Force (VCTF) has been ring-fenced, the protests are diverting officers away from their local duties.
The raid on Oxford Circus followed police being slammed by their own commander after officers were filmed raving with protesters last night, while another officer was spotted skateboarding on Waterloo Bridge.
A video of an abandoned arrest at Oxford Circus today emerged amid claims police did not have enough resources to remove the demonstrators, although Scotland Yard declined to comment on these allegations.
Today, the protesters turned their attention to Vauxhall Bridge as they brought traffic to a standstill with a human barrier – having already taken over Waterloo Bridge, Oxford Circus, Parliament Square and Marble Arch.
Metropolitan Police Commander Jane Connors said today: ‘I’m disappointed by the video and the unacceptable behaviour of the officers in it. We expect our officers to engage with protestors but clearly their actions fall short of the tone of the policing operation at a time when people are frustrated at the actions of the protestors.
‘We will be reminding officers of their responsibilities and expectations in policing this operation – however the majority of officers have been working long hours and I am grateful to them for their continued commitment.’
Twitter users were also angered by the clip, with one saying: ‘As long as the police are enjoying themselves, that’s great. It’s not like there’s a knife crime problem or any worries about terrorism. Good to see them having fun.’