Now Jeremy Corbyn THANKS Extinction Rebellion and compares them to the SUFFRAGETTES 

Jeremy Corbyn defended Extinction Rebellion activists who have brought parts of London to a halt today as he praised their ‘passion’ and even thanked them for ‘educating us’.

The Labour leader spoke out after demonstrations in the capital and other parts of the UK escalated into a three-day Hong Kong-style protest.

An Extinction Rebellion protester was arrested on board a plane at London City Airport today as flight passengers faced chaos.

The man forced the Aer Lingus flight to Dublin to turn around on the runway as angry passengers urged cabin crew to ‘do us all a favour and remove him from the plane’, with others telling him: ‘You need to sit down.’

But during a speech in Northampton  this morning Mr Corbyn said: ‘To have any hope of keeping global temperature rises to a manageable level we need immediate and radical action. 

‘I’d like to thank groups like the Climate Strikers and Extinction Rebellion for educating us and pushing the issue to the top of the agenda.’

The Labour leader spoke out after demonstrations in the capital and other parts of the UK escalated into a three-day Hong Kong-style protest

‘The Government’s target of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 is too late and the Tories are doing little to meet it – in fact investment in clean energy has fallen for three years running. 

‘A Labour government is fully signed up to a Green New Deal. We are already working closely with trade unions and the scientific community to develop the most radical climate targets in the world.’

Later, answering questions about his backing for the protests, he added: ‘We have to understand the passion and the motives of those that have taken part in the protests all over the country. 

Mr Corbyn likened the protesters to the suffragettes whose disruptive campaign helped women get the vote 100 years ago

‘I don’t condemn them, I recognise the passion of what they are doing.’

There was a major security breach at London City Airport as passengers arriving for flights had to show their boarding cards before entering the terminal, after XR protesters declared they would occupy and shut down the travel hub.

Witnesses reported ‘an extraordinary number of police officers’ at the terminal as demonstrators try to emulate protesters who cancelled more than 1,000 flights as they condemned police brutality in Hong Kong.

Police officers react as an activist, dressed in a suit, scales the roof above the entrance to London City Airport (right) while another man disrupted a flight due to take off for Dublin (left)

Police had arrested 12 people with the demonstration just 30 minutes old this morning as video footage showed people involved in the ‘Fly Today, No Tomorrow’ protest being dragged away by officers

Police had arrested 12 people with the demonstration just 30 minutes old this morning as video footage showed people involved in the ‘Fly Today, No Tomorrow’ protest being dragged away by officers.

But Mr Corbyn likened them to the suffragette movement, whose pressure led to women getting the right o vote 100 years ago. 

To applause from an audience of Labour activists he said: Those women that stood up for the right of women to vote, the suffragettes, were condemned mercilessly by almost every newspaper int he country, and they are now on postage stamps. 

‘You know how things change eventually, so let us just remember that the right of free speech, the right to protest and the right to be heard in a peaceful way is actually a very precious right that I would always want to protect.’