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Quakers Descend On Metropolitan Police Headquarters

April 4, 2025 Steve Topple, The Canary. , , , , ,
A silent Quaker Meeting was held outside New Scotland Yard on Thursday 3 April, to bear witness to the police raid on Westminster Meeting House last week in which six Youth Demand activists were arrested. Since the raid, Youth Demand have also remained resilient, holding an open-air meeting which was disrupted by the far right. Hundreds of Quakers, politicians, and others stood in silence for forty minutes as traffic rattled past on busy Victoria Embankment, with 25 other silent meetings held nationwide and online. The move sparked widespread criticism, with constituents expressing concerns about heavy-handed policing to their MPs.

Tesla Showroom Occupied By Activists In Clear Message To Elon Musk

March 3, 2025 The Canary. , , , , ,
Far-right miscreant Elon Musk got a taste of the opposition to him in London – as protesters occupied his Tesla showroom over his multiple crimes against people and planet. At midday on Saturday 1 March, the Tesla showroom in Westfield Shepherd’s Bush was disrupted by Climate Resistance protestors. A massive banner with the demand “Abolish billionaires” was dropped over the Tesla logo from a balcony above as a group of 30 staged a sit-in inside the showroom. The disruption took place as part of the new Abolish Billionaires campaign from campaign group Climate Resistance.

Chaos In London As McKinsey & Co Targeted By Extinction Rebellion

February 18, 2025 The Canary. , , , ,
On Monday 17 February, Extinction Rebellion climate activists occupied McKinsey & Co and its London headquarters to demand it cuts all ties to its fossil fuel industry clients and starts putting planet before profit. Dozens of police arrived on the scene and arrested four campaigners, including two who were stood outside the building holding a banner. The protest began at midday when activists sprayed fake crude oil over the building’s glass and steel exterior. A group of climbers scaled the entrance portico, lighting up smoke flares and unfurling a massive banner reading, “McKinsey & Company: Cut the Ties to Fossil Fuels”.

Elbit Drone Factory Landlords Cut Ties

February 14, 2025 Palestine Action. , , , , , ,
LondonMetric, the landlords of Elbit’s ‘UAV Tactical Systems’ drone factory, has sold the site on after a targeted direct action campaign calling on them to cut ties with Israel’s largest weapons company. After struggling to find a buyer, LondonMetric have now relinquished their interest in Elbit Systems, despite what it claims is a strong commercial potential of the site. Business at ‘UAV Tactical Systems’ has been regularly disrupted and prevented due to its production of Israeli military drones [1]. The result comes after concerted efforts by Palestine Action, joined by the Youth Front for Palestine (YFFP), against the offices and premises of LondonMetrics.

#WeWillMarch Groups Challenge Police Over Palestine Demo Permit

January 11, 2025 The Canary. , , , ,
A new year has begun, yet Israel’s atrocities in Palestine persist. In Gaza, the situation is more dire than ever. Health workers are stretched to breaking point, particularly in northern Gaza, where not a single hospital remains functional. Their resilience in the face of unimaginable suffering is nothing short of heroic, but they cannot do it alone. On Monday 7 January, health workers and supporters gathered outside parliament to demand urgent action. Jeremy Corbyn addressed the crowd calling for IDF troops to withdraw from Gaza and the West Bank, as well as from southern Lebanon and Syria; and for the British government to stop supplying arms to Israel.

Extinction Rebellion Cause Chaos In City Of London

December 5, 2024 The Canary. , , , ,
On Wednesday 4 December, Extinction Rebellion occupied the headquarters of an international law firm that is playing a leading role in oiling the legal wheels of the deadly fossil fuel machine setting our planet on fire. Activists targeted the City of London offices of A&O Shearman – whose lawyers facilitated more than $285 billion in fossil fuel transactions between 2019 and 2023, the second highest amount for any legal firm in the world – demanding they ‘Cut The Ties With Fossil Fuels’. Rebels entered the building and occupied the lobby, while others sprayed the outside of the building with fake oil.

Fossil Free London ‘Dies In’ Over Rosebank

November 10, 2024 The Canary. , , ,
Climate crisis activists from Fossil Free London ‘died in’ at the UK parliament over the upcoming legal challenge against the controversial and planet-wrecking Rosebank oil field project. As the Canary previously reported, a court in Scotland has given the green-light for legal challenges against the climate-wrecking Rosebank oilfield project in the North Sea. The decision potentially paves the way to ending the project for good. Now, campaign groups Uplift and Greenpeace UK are gearing up to take on the fossil fuel titans still trying to force the destructive project through the courts.

London Saw A Surprising Benefit To Fining High-Polluting Cars

September 24, 2024 Syris Valentine, Next City. , , , , , , , , , ,
Restricting the volume of high-emitting vehicles roaming city streets carries many benefits, from clearing the air to quieting the urban din and beyond. Recognition of this simple fact has led to the proliferation of clean air zones, designated regions within a city where vehicles must meet strict pollution standards or pay a fee to operate within it. At last count, over 300 such areas had been established across Europe. In London, which boasts the largest ultra-low emissions zone in the world, a study has found a secondary benefit: Kids started walking and biking to school more. In 2018 — the year before London’s rule took effect in the center of the city, and five years before the zone encompassed its entirety — researchers at the University of Cambridge and Queen Mary University saw in the impending policy an opportunity to conduct a natural experiment.

Palestine Action Blockade And Spray Lobbyists For Israeli Weapons Firm

September 3, 2024 Palestine Action. , , , , ,
At 7.45AM, Palestine Action struck at the 40 Strand, London offices of ‘APCO Worldwide’, political lobbyists for Israel’s biggest weapons firm, Elbit Systems. Red paint was sprayed across the premises using repurposed fire extinguishers before three activists attached themselves to each other using a lock on device within a suitcase. The front door was closed using a D-lock and a banner was unfurled which reads ‘Stop lobbying for Genocide. APCO Drop Elbit’. The action is currently ongoing. According to the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists [1], APCO provides consultant lobbying services to ‘Elbit Systems UK’.

Senior UK Diplomat Resigns Over London’s ‘Complicity’ In War Crimes

August 17, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. , , , , , ,
Mark Smith, the head of the Africa Programmes and Expertise Department and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), formally resigned on 16 August, citing London's continued arms sales to Israel. In a letter titled “FCDO complicity in War Crimes,” Smith – an expert on the legality of UK arms sales – laments ending his long diplomatic career “in the knowledge that this Department may be complicit in War Crimes.” “As [a] former penholder on the arms exports licensing assessment in [the Middle East and North Africa Department] MENAD, I am a subject matter expert in the domain of armed sales policy.

Anti-NATO Protest In London: Ceasefire Now In Gaza, Ukraine And Yemen

July 8, 2024 Coop Antiwar Cafe Berlin, CO-OP NEWS. , , , , , , , , ,
Activists from International Ukraine Anti Fascist Solidarity once again joined the national Gaza solidarity protest in London on Saturday July 6 to demand ceasefires in Gaza, Ukraine and Yemen, and an end to Western arms deliveries to Ukraine. Many protesters stopped to take pictures of the posters, and The response from those on the march, who were calling on the British government to support an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to arms exports to Israel (Yes – Britain is STILL sending weapons to Israel) which was very enthusiastic and 100% positive. Many of the protesters are aware of the connections between these different wars, but have not seen them clearly stated before.

Lloyds Of London Gets An Early Father’s Day Present

June 16, 2024 The Canary. , , ,
‘Super Dad’, supported by Mothers Rise Up – a group of concerned mums who campaign for action on climate breakdown – delivered a giant Father’s Day card and poem to Lloyd’s of London on Thursday 13 June as a gift to CEO John Neal in time for Father’s Day this weekend. It was over the insurance giant’s complicity in the climate crisis due to its huge fossil fuels underwriting. Accompanied by a group of brightly dressed mini superhero children in capes, and mums, Super Dad presented the card and gift to Lloyd’s of London: The card asks John Neal if he will be a climate hero and a super dad… or a climate villain

London Luton Airport Hit With Greenwashing Complaint

April 30, 2024 Ellen Ormesher, DeSmog. , , , ,
Eight climate groups have asked the UK advertising watchdog to assess whether environmental claims in recent Luton Airport ads are misleading the public. In the complaint, filed with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in April, Ad Free Cities, Badvertising, Stay Grounded and other organizations contend that the adverts omit key information regarding the airport’s significant environmental harms. The ads state that the proposed expansion of Luton Airport would be “stopped in its tracks” if it misses its “environmental limits”.

London: 200,000 Protesters March Against Israel’s War On Gaza

January 16, 2024 Kian Seara, Unicorn Riot. , , , , , ,
Around 200,000 protesters marched across central London on Saturday to protest against Israel’s continuing assault on Gaza and the U.K. government’s involvement in arming, funding, and providing diplomatic cover to Israel. The national demonstration, which coincided with a day of action in other cities around the world, saw around 1,700 police officers put into action. The massive demonstration comes as the U.K. joined a U.S. bombing campaign against the Houthi (Ansar Allah) rebels in Yemen in retaliation for their sustained blockade of ships in the Red Sea destined for Israeli ports.

Landlords For Israel’s Arms Trade Shut Down

December 8, 2023 Palestine Action. , , , ,
The offices of property firm ‘LondonMetric’ have been shut down by Palestine Action, with activists targeting the firm for their complicity in Israel’s arms manufacturing in Britain. The company owns the land and building of Elbit Systems’ UAV Tactical Systems drone factory in Leicester, from which military technologies are produced for the Israeli weapons market. As a result of their criminal association with Elbit, LondonMetric’s offices have been disrupted by activists: using a lock-on device on their arms to prevent entry to the building at 1 Curzon Street, W1J 5HD, and dousing the building in red paint to mark it with a symbol of the Palestinian blood which soaks LondonMetric’s profits.
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