In reference to the court proceedings brought by Ellie and other plaintiffs to the Royal Courts of Justice on Wednesday 16th October, where the verdict is likely to be released in a week’s time.

Statement by Ellie Chowns MEP on the delayed verdict:

This is an incredibly important case. It’s about defending the right to assembly and peaceful public protest, rights that should be cornerstones of our democracy. I was arrested simply for standing in a pedestrianised public square, defending the rights of peaceful XR protestors to be there.

It’s true that XR have caused disruption – but the police already had all the powers they needed to arrest anyone causing serious disruption. The decision to extend their powers to ban all XR related protest from anywhere in the city was completely disproportionate, and amounts to police overreach.

XR protestors have a vitally important message: we need to wake up to the climate and ecological emergency. Government has been far too slow to respond. Warm words and lip service are not enough. The UK is off track on almost all its own climate targets.

XR, and the school strikers, have played an incredibly important role over the last year in pushing climate up the agenda, bringing it to public attention in a new way, and getting support from people of all backgrounds.

In this sense they are doing us all a great public service, by raising the alarm. The government should spend their time, energy and money on responding to the climate crisis with the urgency it requires – not on clamping down on legitimate, peaceful public protest.