REBELLION FAILS
SIR,

I noticed in your pages this week the news Extinction Rebellion were holding demonstrations this weekend.

I admire the sentiment of the group, we are staring down the barrel of a climate crisis, if we aren’t already in one, but I have to question their tactics.
We have seen repeatedly Extinction Rebellion “rebels” hold cities including Worcester to a standstill, but we should ask whether this causes more harm than good.

Does the message really get across to people who are stuck in traffic and late for work? As they were in last year’s protest? 

I would suggest all it does is make them more angry and plants a seed of negativity in their head, meaning they will always view Extinction Rebellion in a bad light.

Raising awareness is crucial, we do need to act on the climate, but making people annoyed and inconveniencing them is more likely to put them off than win them over, at least in my view.

William Rogers
Worcester