Anthony Browne

Extinction Rebellion’s plan for eco-oligarchy

It is very rare (although not unprecedented) for law breakers to attempt to be law makers. But Extinction Rebellion is trying to do both, simultaneously. This weekend they are planning to illegally blockade airports and Parliament, reportedly launch cyber-attacks, while pushing a new law to be laid before Parliament when it reopens this week by Caroline Lucas, the sole Green Party MP. It is called the Climate and Ecological Emergency (CEE) Bill. I have huge sympathy for the objectives of Extinction Rebellion – we have an absolute moral duty to pass on a sustainable world to the next generation, and it must be a political priority for which tough decisions need to be made. But I do not agree with their methods. It is not just their law-breaking I oppose, but also their proposed law-making. While the CEE Bill has a few good things, it shows a revealing anti-technology prejudice in rejecting carbon capture and storage – and the hypocrisy of law breakers demanding laws for others. But the real problem is that it shows the group’s contempt for democracy. Extinction Rebellion would create an eco-oligarchy, empowered to impose laws on the country against the wishes of both the government and the electorate. If ever there was a proposal for an environmental dictatorship, this is it.

There is absolutely no chance that MPs will hand over the power to make environmental law

At the heart of the Bill is a proposed ‘Citizens’ Assembly on the Climate and Ecological Emergency’. Citizens’ Assemblies are tried and tested – they can be a good way both to engage the public and develop policy, as has been shown in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. But the power to change policy is always left with those who are elected. Except for this Citizens’ Assembly. This bill would create a Citizens’ Assembly with actual power – if over 80 per cent of its members supported a policy, the government would have to implement it whether or not it wants to, and irrespective of the consequences (with the only exception being if the policy disburses public funds or imposes charges on people).

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