Extinction Rebellion suggests group is FINALLY ready to end climate change protests

Climate change protesters have suggested they are finally ready to end their demonstrations after causing chaos in London.

This week’s Extinction Rebellion (XR) protests closed key routes through the capital and resulted in at least 750 arrests.

But the group has called for an ‘urgent meeting’ with the Metropolitan Police and the Mayor of London, Mr Sadiq Khan, in the hope of ending ‘the disruption to Londoners’.

In a since deleted tweet, the organisation said: ‘Can we talk and work out a way forward? We request an urgent meeting so sites can be cleared with consent. Please contact us.

Writing on Twitter to the capital’s force and Mr Sadiq Khan, Extinction Rebellion said it wanted to ‘talk and work out a way forward’

Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, Cressida Dick

Sadiq Khan

The group has called for an ‘urgent meeting’ with the Metropolitan Police (pictured left, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, Cressida Dick) and the Mayor of London (pictured right) in the hope of ending ‘the disruption to Londoners’

This week's Extinction Rebellion (XR) protests closed key routes through the capital and resulted in at least 750 arrests

This week’s Extinction Rebellion (XR) protests closed key routes through the capital and resulted in at least 750 arrests

‘We want to continue our peaceful rebellion against the UK Government but are willing to end the disruption to Londoners.’

MailOnline has contacted Sadiq Khan and the Metropolitan Police for comment.

It follows a week of misery in London, during which hundreds of protesters blocked Oxford Circus, Waterloo Bridge, Parliament Square and Marble Arch, costing businesses tens of millions of pounds. 

Meanwhile, the teenager who inspired the climate change school strikes is due to join protesters in London as they enter a seventh day of demonstrations.

Meanwhile, the teenager who inspired the climate change school strikes is due to join protesters in London as they enter a seventh day of demonstrations

Meanwhile, the teenager who inspired the climate change school strikes is due to join protesters in London as they enter a seventh day of demonstrations 

Greta Thunberg is expected to address Extinction Rebellion members on Easter Sunday ahead of meeting senior British politicians next week.

The 16-year-old Swedish activist has already met Pope Francis and spoken at the European Parliament.

On Bank Holiday Monday, the group plans to hold a picnic on the Westway and peacefully block the road near Edgware Road underground station. 

After fierce criticism of their ‘softly-softly’ tactics, police officers yesterday finally broke-up the Oxford Circus protest site. 

Dame Emma Thompson (pictured above) also joined in with the protests in Oxford Circus this week

Dame Emma Thompson (pictured above) also joined in with the protests in Oxford Circus this week 

The group Extinction Rebellion called for a week of civil disobedience against what it says is the failure to tackle the causes of climate change

The group Extinction Rebellion called for a week of civil disobedience against what it says is the failure to tackle the causes of climate change

Officers sat across from the pink boat in Oxford Circus earlier this week

Officers sat across from the pink boat in Oxford Circus earlier this week 

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick condemned last week’s ‘miserable disruption’ which has led to more than 750 people being arrested, with 28 charged. 

Hundreds of officers from other forces have been drafted in to help quell the ongoing disruption.

Police have been trying to confine the protests to one site in London, at Marble Arch, but protesters have ignored the threat of arrest and continued to block roads across the capital.

Ms Dick said: ‘I have never – I’ve been a police officer for 36 years – I have never known an operation, a single operation, in which over 700 people have been arrested.’  

Protesters were pictured tonight in Parliament Square after a day of demonstrations across the capital

Pink paper boats are seen as climate change activists continue to block the road at Oxford Circus in London on Saturday

Pink paper boats are seen as climate change activists continue to block the road at Oxford Circus in London on Saturday

She said she was ‘not embarrassed’ about the length of time it is taking officers to clear the streets, defending their ‘determination and the resilience and the courage that they are showing in the face of quite a lot of difficulty’.

Ms Dick predicted that large numbers of people would be ‘furious’ if the demonstrations affect the London Marathon, which will take place next Sunday.

The Commissioner said she will be talking to the Government and criminal justice colleagues to see if changes to the police’s powers should be made to help officers deal with non-violent demonstrators when they are acting unlawfully.

‘That is the dilemma and if our powers are insufficient, if we don’t have sufficient deterrents in the criminal justice system, then I will certainly be asking for changes.’

Police officers were pictured trying to remove climate activists at the Extinction Rebellion demonstration in Parliament Square

Police officers were pictured trying to remove climate activists at the Extinction Rebellion demonstration in Parliament Square 

One woman smiles as she is arrested and taken away by police officers attending the demonstrations in Parliament Square

One woman smiles as she is arrested and taken away by police officers attending the demonstrations in Parliament Square 

The group has pledged to continue causing disruption until its demands are met.

It wants the Government to declare a climate emergency and take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.

There are increasing fears that protests by XR, which boasts more than 100 regional groups, could spread nationwide. 

Leaked minutes from a meeting of activists in Devon earlier this year reveal plans to ‘educate children and infiltrate the school system’ along with the use of puppets and street theatre to blockade streets.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk