By some estimates over 100,000 people amassed at central London over the past four days. Key locations in including the heart of the UK Government were the centres of mass die in, biodiversity parades, drumming, chanting, speeches and much more. This was the Big One, a four day action from the 21st to the 24th April 2023, where people protested against the continued failure to act on the climate and ecological crisis. It was by any measure the largest demonstration in recent years. The media’s response? Practically nothing.
There were no leading stories on BBC, ITV, C4 news or on any of the UK’s national in-print press, and not very much coverage in their online versions. So unless you were there, or are a member of one of the over 200 organisations along with Extinction Rebellion that had collectively organised the series of events, you probably had no inkling of what was happening.
Contrast that with the media frenzy produced by a young man putting harmless orange powder on a snooker table. A direct non-violent protest that in holding up a sport tournament for around an hour produced headlines and endless takes in the UK commentariat.
So the Big One was a failure? If you measure success in column inches then yes. And that was to be expected the moment XR made public statements to the effect that it would not be undertaking disruptive action. If it bleeds it leads is still an accurate summary of the decision making process of a UK news editor. Drama, jeopardy, destruction, suffering, death – these are the qualities that can elevate a story. But doesn’t isn’t the climate and ecological crisis have all such attributes in abundance? Can you think of a bigger story in such terms?
The brutal reality is that yes you can – if you are a UK news editor. Deputy PM resigns. Sudan in turmoil. Nurses on strike. Interests rate going up. National phone alert system tested. There was always something more immediate, more worthy of featuring higher up in the news cycle than a large number of people doing peaceful things in central London.
But if you measure success in other ways, the Big One was a triumph. It brought people together, it allowed them to share their concerns and realise they are part of a much much larger community. Many new friendships were created over the past four days. It brought organisations together and showed them that while they may have very different values and memberships, they can effectively collaborate on large-scale actions. It you measure success in terms of movement building, then the Big One delivered.
Such a movement is not sufficient if it is ignored by media, politicians, and wider society. But I would argue it is necessary. This may because it is a precursor to a moderate flank that includes a much larger fraction of society than XR or Just Stop Oil, or Insulate Britain have thus far been able to garner. It could bring more people ‘on side’ to the cause. The action now required to avert climate and ecological disaster in not just rapid but sweeping in terms of changing many aspects of society. More people are beginning to wake up to the realisation that we are not going to fix our deeply dysfunctional civilisation by simply buying more electric cars. We need more, much more.
None of the main political parties in the UK have much to offer in response. The thinking is there, the theory, but there is very limited ability to put any of it into action. That must change. It will – one way or another. What the Big One showed us, is that sweeping change could come about collectively, peacefully, democratically, compasionately. If these are not core principles in your theory of change, then any success risks being a phyric victory.