These are the Extinction Rebellion activists who stopped the presses
The blockade on Friday night of newspaper print works that prevented the distribution of several national titles, including The Telegraph, was carried out by veteran green militants with a record of bringing chaos to Britain’s streets.
Among the activists outside the printing plant in Broxbourne, Herts, was Donnachadh McCarthy, a green lifestyle coach who appears frequently on radio and television, including the BBC's It's Not Easy Being Green and ITV's How Green is Your House?
At 9,30am on Saturday he tweeted a photograph of the blockade at Broxbourne, saying: “Dawn at #ExtinctionRebellion blockade of Murdoch's print works. 9 hours & loads of rebels still locked on. Murdoch + media billionaires must Tell the Truth on climate & ecology crises.”
Mr McCarthy, who works as an environmental auditor for businesses and is the author of The Prostitute State - How Britain's Democracy Was Bought, is also an environmental columnist on the Independent newspaper. He has also written for The Sunday Times, The Guardian and Esquire magazine.
Last week he addressed a sit-down protest by Extinction Rebellion outside 55 Tufton Street, near the Houses of Parliament, which he described as “home to many shadowy 'think tanks'”.
He has also taken part in several blockades of streets in central London, aimed at stopping traffic to highlight the threat posed by climate change.
Through his London-based 3 Acorns Eco-audits consultancy, Mr McCarthy advises businesses and organisations, including schools and charities, on how to improve their environmental practices.
Another of those taking part at Broxbourne was Gully Bujak, a committed Extinction Rebellion activist.
Ms Bujak, who works as an actress and model, moved from Norwich to London in part to join the Extinction Rebellion movement and in April last year took part in two days of protests designed to bring traffic to a halt by blockading Marble Arch and Waterloo Bridge.
Speaking outside the printing plant on Friday night, she said: “The climate emergency is an existential threat to humanity. Instead of publishing this on the front page every day as it deserves, much of our media ignores the issue and some actively sow the seeds of climate denial.”
Another activist who took part in the protest was Jonathan Fuller, a former civil servant with HMRC and Transport for London and now a full-time environmental activist.
Mr Fuller, from Westcliff, Southend, was arrested in April last year, when Extinction Rebellion blockaded Oxford Circus, parking a large pink boat to stop traffic along one of the capital’s main thoroughfares.
His account of his arrest on Facebook went viral, in part because he praised the police for the kindness, concern and professionalism shown by officers while under arrest and in custody.
The 62-year-old has previously campaigned against the expansion of Southend Airport and proposals for an airport in the Thames Estuary.
He said on Saturday: “There is a lot that the broadcast media and print media are not reporting on - particularly the right-wing press - which is why we are here today.
“In September 2018 the UN Secretary General declared that climate change is an existential threat, but it wasn’t widely reported. The same thing happened in February 2020 when the [US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] forecasted that the first summer free of ice would be 2024.
“The cruelty of this is particularly for the young. The media is denying them the information to protect themselves, to prevent what could eventually kill them.”
Another of those who took part in the blockade was Matthew Hammond, 51, a maths supply teacher and home tutor from Exeter.
He said the event was only his third Extinction Rebellion protest, adding: “I’m not naturally a willing rebel. But a lot of this is about Murdoch and the press. This information is out there but it’s just not getting the coverage.
"Murdoch has destroyed personal debates on a lot of things, including climate change and Brexit, and it’s just become a slagging match.”
One of the leading figures in Extinction Rebellion is Alanna Byrne, the group’s media coordinator, who on Saturday justified stopping the distribution of national newspapers and defended the actions of those who blockaded the plants.
She said: “If we are to sort out this mess we’re in, the mainstream media must stop profiting from clickbait culture that is swimming in misinformation, that makes us hate our neighbours, suspect foreigners and vulnerable groups, and rally the nation into action.”
An English literature and history of art graduate from Roehampton University, Ms Byrne previously worked as a project manager and communications coordinator for the charity Action for Stammering Children. She also worked for a year at a production company in Los Angeles before joining Project Cordillera, a firm organising sustainable adventure holidays in South America.
