Climate activist group Extinction Rebellion (XR) blocked the entrances of insurance marketplace Lloyd’s of London on Tuesday.
It comes four days after the group, together with activists from Just Stop Oil (JSO), caused the iconic Tower Bridge to shut down for several hours.
XR said more than 60 activists blocked the more than two dozen entrances of Lloyd’s at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, using superglue, chains, and bike locks, preventing staff from entering the building.
XR spokesperson Clare Walmsley said the group was there to “demand an end to all new fossil fuel investments and insurance. ”
The activist group said it aimed to close the building for the day, and Lloyd’s said it had advised staff not to go to the building on Tuesday to ensure their safety, and the market remained open with trading continuing online.
A spokesman said Lloyd’s supports “safe and constructive engagement on climate change” and is “continuing to work to support a responsible transition.”
At 2:43 p.m., City of London Police said protesters had moved on from Lloyd’s building, with officers engaging with a group remaining at the nearby Throgmorton Avenue.
Meanwhile, Financier Ben Goldsmith, a board member of both the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Conservative Environment Network, sparked backlash after he posted a now-deleted message in support of the activists.
Between April 1 and April 10, XR and JSO staged 10 days of disruptions targeting oil terminals across England, demanding an end to new oil and gas projects.
Activists have climbed on top of oil tankers, locked themselves onto pipeworks, occupied terminals, halting oil production and transportation.
Downing Street on Monday condemned the “guerrilla tactics” used by the protesters, the main opposition Labour Party has also called for more court injunctions in a bid to prevent further disruption.
However, Goldsmith wrote on Twitter on Monday that it was “Not a good look from Labour.”
“The protesters are right to be doing whatever it takes to wake people up. The fossil fuel industry is grubby and dangerous. We need to unhook ourselves from our dependence asap. I’m with Extinction Rebellion,” he wrote in the message which has since been deleted.
His comments attracted criticism from Labour, and Sky News reported that some Conservative MPs have called for Goldsmith to be sacked from his role at Defra.
Nickie Aiken, Conservative MP for Cities of London and Westminster, suggested Goldsmith should “speak to my constituents and businesses who have their lives disrupted; their medical appointments missed; carers late to support our most vulnerable, [and] their police teams taken away from their neighbourhoods to deal with protesters.”
In a new message on Twitter, Goldsmith said his initial tweet was posted “in a personal capacity.”
“Support of [XR] is neither a [Conservative Environment Network] nor a [Defra] position. I have therefore retracted these tweets,” he wrote.
He said he recognised the disruption the protests caused and had “always previously stood publicly opposed to the controversial and often bonkers methods employed by [XR],” but he was “not alone in feeling a rising sense of panic as the reported science grows ever grimmer.”
A spokesman for the Conservative Environment Network said: “Extinction Rebellion protests do nothing to help tackle climate change. Their actions risk undermining public support for environmental policies. We support strong action to stop these protesters from disrupting people’s lives and livelihoods.
“We are pleased Ben Goldsmith has retracted his comments regarding Extinction Rebellion. They do not reflect the position of the Conservative Environment Network, which has consistently opposed the terrible tactics deployed by protesters intent on playing havoc.”
