Protests to be staged over HS2
Extinction Rebellion and HS2 Rebellion will be calling on the Government to scrap the high speed rail project and instead invest in sustainable projects with a series of protests tomorrow at key locations along the line.
One of the protests will take place in Birmingham starting at 11am near Curzon Street Station with speeches followed by a socially distanced funeral procession to HS2's headquarters at Snowhill.
At London Euston Station a 'woodland critters' picnic is being held at lunchtime and a morning protest is also being staged at Manchester Piccadilly Station
The protests aim to highlight the rising costs of the project and mourn ecological destruction.
Activists dressed in funeral attire will gather in Eastside Park, directly across from the HS2 Curzon Street Station construction site, and march to Snowhill with chants of “NHS not HS2” where they will stage a "die-in" and eulogy for lost ecology. The marchers will then return to the park for a family-friendly arts picnic.
The groups are opposed to HS2’s cost, which has already doubled to £106 billion and is likely to increase further.
They say HS2 will also destroy some of the last remaining ancient woodland in the Midlands, with at least 108 sites severely impacted or destroyed nationwide.
Wildlife
Some of the woodlands in Warwickshire have stood since before Shakespeare’s time and are filled with rare and protected bats, badgers, butterflies and other creatures. Wetlands and wildflower meadows will also be lost.
"During a national pandemic and climate and ecological emergency, our government is destroying precious wildlife to build a trainline no one wants,” said Verel Rodrigues, 25, a mechanical engineer from Extinction Rebellion Birmingham.
“HS2 is simply not worth the environmental or economic cost.
"We could build over 200 hospitals and fund nearly half a million doctors with the money being poured into HS2.
"Tickets will cost £240, which is unaffordable to most people. And it only makes the Birmingham-London journey 20 minutes faster.”
The events are part of a weekend of national protests leading up to an occupation of Parliament Square in London on Tuesday when Extinction Rebellion will highlight the government’s failure to act on the climate crisis and demand MPs back the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill.
The Bill requires the government to enact urgent measures to curb our greenhouse gas emissions and reduce runaway climate breakdown.
