Beginning Friday 28th August, HS2 Rebellion and other campaigners from Extinction Rebellion (XR) and associated groups banded together to begin a rebellion against perhaps the most prolific environmental war many of us have ever seen. Extinction Rebellion are conducting bank holiday protests in the lead up to the next UK Rebellion and HS2 Rebellion’s actions today were part of nationwide anti-HS2 acts. To keep you updated, here’s Friday’s actions…
Euston:
HS2 Rebellion’s latest tree protection camp at Euston sprang into action on Friday morning as up to eight members of the public and brave protectors took to the trees in the Euston Square Garden, which are due to be felled by HS2 to make way for a train-line that this country simply cannot afford to be fueling. Tree protector Telur, one of the eight on site on Friday said “The destruction from HS2 towards our environment and health of the population makes my heart ache. I can’t bear to think about what young peoples’ futures will look like if nothing is done about the climate emergency we face, I just want to help.”
Birmingham :
On Friday morning, activists gathered around the Birmingham HQ of HS2 and portrayed the ‘faceless bureaucrats’ who have blood on their hands caused by their ecological destruction. In addition, a banner was successfully dropped on the side of Birmingham Police headquarters, pushing the idea that we as a nation should be prioritising our NHS as opposed to spending over £106billion on a train line. Hopefully the actions of activists and campaigners in Birmingham will help garner further public support to show our government that the people have spoken and they want a safe and sustainable future on our planet. At £300 million pounds per mile, HS2 is just not worth the cost.
Photos: Sam Iqbal
A funeral march also took place in Birmingham on Friday, with protesters and members of the public taking to the streets to draw attention to HS2’s destruction and waste of the natural world. These actions are a collaboration between HS2 Midlands Rebellion and Extinction Rebellion. Seeing people’s resilience and determination to fight for our planet is truly awe-inspiring and makes us hopeful that we will succeed.
‘NHS NOT HS2’ is displayed here on the side of Birmingham Police HQ, and anti-HS2 protesters take to the streets in solidarity.
Over on Curzon Street, anti-HS2 protesters stormed a construction site which is set to house HS2’s Birmingham Station, as part of HS2 Midlands Rebellion’s joint collaboration with Extinction Rebellion. No arrests were made on the site and police allowed the protesters to walk free from the ‘criminal’ system. We are not criminals for fighting for our futures and for campaigning to save this planet from wanton destruction.
Credit: @Taltakingpics and Simon Beavis, photographs from the Curzon Street compound takeover.
Athena, 22, said: “I’m shutting down this train line because people don’t want it. Our system is somehow allowing this act of destruction to continue, even though it is tearing through farms which feed us. Farms that have been compulsory purchased but never paid for by HS2! All this for 20 minutes. Imagine what we could do with £106billion to fund the NHS and build sustainable transport systems.”
As always, if you want to get involved with the campaign against HS2, see our website for ways that you can help. From setting up camp at one of our protector sites around the country, to emailing your MP, there is always something you can do to get involved and support HS2 Rebellion.
