Protesters from Extinction Rebellion have glued themselves to the Liberal Democrats’ election battle bus in London.
The bus is electric and designed to be less harmful to the environment in comparison to the typical election battle bus.
Jo Swinson, the leader of the Liberal Democrats spoke to the protesters as the incident unfolded and said it was ‘lovely to meet them’. Following the incident, she said;
“There is clearly a little bit of an irony in glueing yourself to an electric bus.
“A little bit like when the DLR was targeted.
“Obviously, again, a fairly environmentally friendly form of transport.
“But I recognise the general point.
“I welcome that the climate emergency is a really important issue in this election.”
Police were called to the incident in London. A statement by Extinction Rebellion said;
“Extinction Rebellion are buzzing around campaign buses this morning and demanding the climate and ecological emergency is top of the agenda this election.”
“The protest, going by the name ‘Bee-yond Politics’, is being carried out to remind politicians of the irreplaceable biodiversity loss that is a direct result of their poor, irresponsible policymaking.
“Activists wanted to plant the plight of bees and other pollinators fully in the minds of the next prime minister, and to remind them that they hold the future of life in their hands.
“Our bee population is being threatened by extreme weather and habitat destruction, bringing with it crop instability and food vulnerability.”
It is not the first time that environmental activists have disrupted the path of vehicles. Earlier this year, activists climbed on top of a train and Paralympic bronze medallist James Brown climbed on top of a plane at London City Airport.
You can read about the election pledges of each party regarding the environment in our Election Centre.
Photo Credit: Liberal Democrats via Flickr under licence (CC BY-ND 2.0)
