Very interesting reading. I was arrested and put on trial during an XR protest and while I don't necessarily regret the fact, there was (unsurprisingly) rather a lot of pressure/ coercion put on activists to get arrested and some of the claims about support (you will have a group waiting outside the police station when you are released; you will be given hot food etc.) were not true when I was finally released from the station in the early hours of the morning. I was a member of the Ipswich XR group and went to support (the notably much more upper-middle class) Cambridge XR group and after I'd played my role of being charged and arrested, they stonewalled me and my partner whenever we reached out to communicate :p
My biggest frustration in retrospect is not being critical/ sceptical enough about the social science research. There were a lot of claims of 'this is the same and will have the same outcomes as the Black civil rights protests of the 60s' and I think that was either politically illiterate/ cynical and used to flatter the egos of the (largely though not exclusively) white activists anxious about global warming.
I still believe Hallam is a good faith actor (I don't think he'd have spent so long in prison if he was really part of a psy-op trying to strengthen the power of the British state) but I think he's less politically astute than he perhaps thinks he is. He's right about how complacent a lot of people are about climate change and biodiversity loss and right somehow the political system as it is needs to be overthrown, but being awake to the seriousness of a situations plus having strong rhetoric does not necessarily means you have the best ideas for how to enact change. Still, constitutionally I'm definitely closer to him than, say, Rupert Reed.
Firstly, your sacrifice is to be admired and it's really amazing that you put you are actually prepared to put your liberty at stake for your principles.
To be honest, I don't know as much about Hallam as about Crosland.
Alumni of HJA include Cherie Blair - wife of war criminal Tony Blair, who is currently trying to get his blood-soaked hands on Gaza - and Victoria Starmer - wife of Keir Starmer, the Zionist 'without qualification' who thinks Israel has the right to cut off water to Gaza.
However, I will say that going to prison for a short span apparently is not uncommon for psyops operatives. What is more important is that a legal precedent was set by his action - i.e. the courts giving significant prison sentences for planning non-violent action. His sentence (and some others) were actually shortened, and he only spent 13 months in prison of a 5-year sentence (reduced to 4 on appeal): https://www.instagram.com/p/DNVvESNsjR3/
That is really interesting. I'm lucky that the charges ended up being thrown out of court to be honest. I like being a teacher in the state sector and in the long term probably manage to do more good (it's tricky within the system, but you try to educate the kids into actual critical thinking as best you can) there than unable to teach due to a criminal record.
In terms of the flawed social science behind XR, its basically one study, co-authored with Maria Stephan, then lead foreign affairs officer in the US State Department’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations:
Look at what Trump is doing in the US. Britain is following the same things as Trump but in a slightly different order and slightly different means. Britain no longer has a judicial system like the US. They have a criminal oppression system same as the US. Britain is now facing the Britcard which is the exact same thing as the RealID. For your "safety". I need safety from the government.
None of the protests mentioned accomplished anything other than more draconian laws. That was the intention. The government creates a problem and solves it by enacting legislation to oppress the people. Homelessness is one example in the US. It's entirely created and is now being criminalized and the homeless don't even have basic human rights let alone constitutional ones.
Britain already has a king. The US just got one. We're all in the same world of shit now. The whole world. Trump has declared war on his own country. He wants a civil war so that citizens will kill each other. The military can mop up the mess later.
Signs and people in the streets are useless.
Illegal draconian laws are meant to be broken. Destroying peoples lives are not justice. When Trump collapses America the UK and world will shortly follow.
A kooky bunch for sure. Did some art stuff with xr. Soon became clear that things were not. Final straw when one of the road blockers turned up in a land rover in London and announced he was about to drive to his families second home in the country. Laters.
I must say I was a bit sceptical at the beginning of the article but the more I read, the more convinced I became that there was merit in your argument, particularly when I cross-referenced names and details in some of David Miller’s articles. You are so right that each of us has a duty to do our own research and not just follow others no matter how desperately we want to take action.
I've deleted your comment because you've literally created an account under the name 'utterly shocked' and have only read this one piece and commented on it.
It seems you are a bad faith actor who created an account simply to attempt to gaslight and create fake smears to encourage others to get terrorism convictions via DoJ via this method.
I don't believe DoJ is doing anything for Palestine and I think their aim is to instead hinder the Palestine movement. I won't repeat the articles - others can read them.
Of course the content of your comment was itself, incorrect. Not only had the DoJ campaign ushered in more dranconian protest laws, it's also ushered in a farce of a legal system with mass no jury trial trials and tenuous article 6 rights.
I won't allow you to use my comment section to try and advocate in any way, for people to break the law in such a pointless manner and in my doing so, silence pro palestine voices in Britian
Very interesting reading. I was arrested and put on trial during an XR protest and while I don't necessarily regret the fact, there was (unsurprisingly) rather a lot of pressure/ coercion put on activists to get arrested and some of the claims about support (you will have a group waiting outside the police station when you are released; you will be given hot food etc.) were not true when I was finally released from the station in the early hours of the morning. I was a member of the Ipswich XR group and went to support (the notably much more upper-middle class) Cambridge XR group and after I'd played my role of being charged and arrested, they stonewalled me and my partner whenever we reached out to communicate :p
My biggest frustration in retrospect is not being critical/ sceptical enough about the social science research. There were a lot of claims of 'this is the same and will have the same outcomes as the Black civil rights protests of the 60s' and I think that was either politically illiterate/ cynical and used to flatter the egos of the (largely though not exclusively) white activists anxious about global warming.
I still believe Hallam is a good faith actor (I don't think he'd have spent so long in prison if he was really part of a psy-op trying to strengthen the power of the British state) but I think he's less politically astute than he perhaps thinks he is. He's right about how complacent a lot of people are about climate change and biodiversity loss and right somehow the political system as it is needs to be overthrown, but being awake to the seriousness of a situations plus having strong rhetoric does not necessarily means you have the best ideas for how to enact change. Still, constitutionally I'm definitely closer to him than, say, Rupert Reed.
Firstly, your sacrifice is to be admired and it's really amazing that you put you are actually prepared to put your liberty at stake for your principles.
To be honest, I don't know as much about Hallam as about Crosland.
However, I will say these groups have the same individuals - and the same law firm - involved. The law firm that has been advertised by all three on their materials is Hodge, Jones & Allen ('HJA') (if you see the bustcard in the article, protestors were instructed to call them). HJA was co-founded by the husband of Magaret Hodge...yes, the pro-Israel MP who called Corbyn a 'f*cking anti-semite". https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/8002/ and who is a member of Labour Friends of Israel ('LFI') and features on their website :https://www.lfi.org.uk/margaret-hodge-israels-response-to-this-terror-must-be-resolute-but-it-must-remain-consistent-with-international-law/
Alumni of HJA include Cherie Blair - wife of war criminal Tony Blair, who is currently trying to get his blood-soaked hands on Gaza - and Victoria Starmer - wife of Keir Starmer, the Zionist 'without qualification' who thinks Israel has the right to cut off water to Gaza.
However, I will say that going to prison for a short span apparently is not uncommon for psyops operatives. What is more important is that a legal precedent was set by his action - i.e. the courts giving significant prison sentences for planning non-violent action. His sentence (and some others) were actually shortened, and he only spent 13 months in prison of a 5-year sentence (reduced to 4 on appeal): https://www.instagram.com/p/DNVvESNsjR3/
He's already on to his next project...https://rev21.earth/ Of course, they ask for you to join them and give your personal details...https://rev21.earth/signup/
(Here says he's co-founder of Rev21 here https://rogerhallam.com/join-rev21/)
Very strange that the money never seems to run out for these individuals and their groups...
That is really interesting. I'm lucky that the charges ended up being thrown out of court to be honest. I like being a teacher in the state sector and in the long term probably manage to do more good (it's tricky within the system, but you try to educate the kids into actual critical thinking as best you can) there than unable to teach due to a criminal record.
In terms of the flawed social science behind XR, its basically one study, co-authored with Maria Stephan, then lead foreign affairs officer in the US State Department’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations:
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2019-10-31/the-flawed-social-science-behind-extinction-rebellions-change-strategy/
It's not your opinion. It's fact.
Look at what Trump is doing in the US. Britain is following the same things as Trump but in a slightly different order and slightly different means. Britain no longer has a judicial system like the US. They have a criminal oppression system same as the US. Britain is now facing the Britcard which is the exact same thing as the RealID. For your "safety". I need safety from the government.
None of the protests mentioned accomplished anything other than more draconian laws. That was the intention. The government creates a problem and solves it by enacting legislation to oppress the people. Homelessness is one example in the US. It's entirely created and is now being criminalized and the homeless don't even have basic human rights let alone constitutional ones.
Britain already has a king. The US just got one. We're all in the same world of shit now. The whole world. Trump has declared war on his own country. He wants a civil war so that citizens will kill each other. The military can mop up the mess later.
Signs and people in the streets are useless.
Illegal draconian laws are meant to be broken. Destroying peoples lives are not justice. When Trump collapses America the UK and world will shortly follow.
Law is meaningless. Enforcement is the only thing that matters.
https://t.me/Eyeonpalestine2/20955
The arresting of well meaning protesters creates the perfect opportunity for the police and intelligence to coerse people into becoming informers.
And this!!! Happens ALL the time.
A kooky bunch for sure. Did some art stuff with xr. Soon became clear that things were not. Final straw when one of the road blockers turned up in a land rover in London and announced he was about to drive to his families second home in the country. Laters.
I must say I was a bit sceptical at the beginning of the article but the more I read, the more convinced I became that there was merit in your argument, particularly when I cross-referenced names and details in some of David Miller’s articles. You are so right that each of us has a duty to do our own research and not just follow others no matter how desperately we want to take action.
Wait till you see Part 2....you will be absolutely astounded
"A campaign to change the law is lawful."
That was a long time ago.
This is a very interesting and convincing article, providing a new (to me) perspective on the background to this approach. Thank you.
No problem. To be honest, there's way more but this piece is already really long! I'm happy to post bits in parts are interested.
I've deleted your comment because you've literally created an account under the name 'utterly shocked' and have only read this one piece and commented on it.
It seems you are a bad faith actor who created an account simply to attempt to gaslight and create fake smears to encourage others to get terrorism convictions via DoJ via this method.
I don't believe DoJ is doing anything for Palestine and I think their aim is to instead hinder the Palestine movement. I won't repeat the articles - others can read them.
Of course the content of your comment was itself, incorrect. Not only had the DoJ campaign ushered in more dranconian protest laws, it's also ushered in a farce of a legal system with mass no jury trial trials and tenuous article 6 rights.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2025/10/36-minute-trials-and-no-jury-starmers-fascist-mass-courts/
I won't allow you to use my comment section to try and advocate in any way, for people to break the law in such a pointless manner and in my doing so, silence pro palestine voices in Britian
Nice try though.