Extinction Rebellion: yet more disruption as if we hadn't had enough disruption

Diane Abbott MP's participation during a LBC radio programme became legendary when having been asked how much money was going to be necessary to increase the number of Police officers she gave a figure that would have been the equivalent of spending £10 per Police officer.  

Since then, the Labour MP has complained that she has suffered torrents of abuse during her political career. When she was asked on radio, pressed for time, she gave a figure from the top of her head because she hadn't actually calculated beforehand how much it would be necessary to recruit Police officers that the Labour Party had been talking about for so long in Parliament and outside Parliament when criticizing Conservative governments past and present.

Policing rallies and demonstrations, enforcing Lockdown meaures and dealing with chaos and disorder while protecting public and private property does not come cheap. Police officers that would normally be carrying out regular duties have to be concentrated in big numbers on the streets to prevent public disorder and to deal with cases of violence when violence unavoidably erupts. Extra hours are piled up and all the monies invested in big deployments, arrests and legal proceedings consume even faster a very tight Police budget. As if the number of rallies and demonstrations we have been dealing with was not enough, the news kids on the block - Extinction Rebellion - are now threatening us with further actions and this time focusing on banking institutions. You can bet that, yet again, sizeable amounts of money will be taken out of the Police budget to prevent disorder and to deal with unavoidable confrontations on the streets. As we come out of the quarentine imposed to deal with a pandemic, and as numbers of peoples walking around rise, spring and summer don't look like seasons of the year that you will be able to enjoy, but more as seasons of the year that you will have to suffer thanks to people who believe that generating chaos and disorder they are promoting a healthier environment.

As new legislation is being introduced to tackle disorder, the very same people whose actions serve to justify the passing of stricter legislation are once again creating chaos on the streets and are now going to be joined by the new kids on the block and by other individuals who couldn't care less about any cause and are only around to engage in disreputable behaviour including violence and destruction of public and private property. As always, policing and clean up operations will be paid for by Joe Public.

Council Tax letters were already sent by local authorities including increases of the fees house owners have to pay at a time when local authorities are under additional financial stress, party because of the pandemic, partly because of expenses that rise year on year. So, less money for Police services and less monies for local services delibered by local authorities and this at a time when the Treasury is struggling with vast amounts of borrowing to deal with the pandemic and to protect peoples' jobs. Furlough schemes are basically state subsidies to support those who have lost their income and to keep those who are still working at work.

Any actions that could undermine the operations of vital financial services are a direct attack against the United Kingdom. Such actions can be said to be carried out to promote a healthier environment, but are the de-facto acts of terrorism at a time when the country is slowly, but surely heading towards relative normality. This is a time when we should be supporting the creation of new jobs. Extinction Rebellion doesn't care about jobs and this is also a way to say that Extinction Rebellion could not care less about millions of families in the United Kingdom that have lost their incomes or are struggling to survive with reduced incomes.