Amelia’s Magazine | Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Like it or not (and I bet they don’t), the Government are now being hit from all sides over the issue of Climate Change. Yesterday, the harsh criticism came from a determined and impassioned group of kids dressed as lions, tigers and polar bears who stood outside Parliament and protested the plans for new coal fired power stations, and the building of Runway Three at Heathrow Airport. It was a double-whammy kind of point. First, the children wanted to show that they too are as concerned as any group of adults about the issues of global warming, and want their voices to be heard too. Secondly, they wanted to represent the many animals who face extinction if climate change isn’t halted. And who can say no to a kid dressed up as a polar bear?

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Thankfully, the dire rainstorm which had threatened to send everyone running cleared and made way for blue skies. I pitched up at around 4.30pm to find more police standing around then children. Being fully aware of the planned protest, there were quite a few clusters of armed police standing guard. Is that justifiable when you consider that the event consisted of under 10 year olds singing “We’ve got the whole world in our hands” while they threw an inflatable globe around? I’m not so sure.

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The slightly ominous police presence did nothing to discourage the children, who were obviously more excited that they got to leave school early to come to this event then worried about stern policemen standing over them. Many kids had come from a school in the village of Sipson, near Heathrow, whose primary school will be demolished if Heathrow’s third runway goes ahead. (I especially liked their teacher who instructed her pupils to wriggle their bums at Parliament). So while this seemed like a light hearted affair, the message was serious. Especially as these are the type of age range who will have to deal with the devastating impact of global warming.

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Several MP’s came along to show solidarity, including environmental campaigner and editor of The Ecologist, Zac Goldsmith. His speech highlighted the disparities between other countries commitment to using alternative energy and our country. An example he gave was the town of Marburg in Germany, which requires all homes and renovation project built to be fitted with solar systems – a policy which has means that this small town produces more solar energy than the whole of Britain.

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Once the kids/polar bears had done a few photo-calls, they trooped off on mass into Parliament. The aim being to meet and tell their MP’s they want two things – No new coal fired power stations unless CO2 is captured and stored, and no aviation expansion. What we weren’t planning on was being made to wait outside for 45 minutes while each parent and child was given the same stringent screening of their bags and clothes that is usually reserved for suspicious looking men boarding planes. For any other group this would have been tolerable, but there seemed something especially pedantic about doing this to a mass of children who were doing their very best to stand patiently in icy winds.

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The guards had no intention of speeding up the process, even for the children who were getting cold, tired, and letting us all know how much they needed the loo. I stuck around too. Even though it was absolutely freezing, I knew that if these children could give up their tea time to wait for three quarters of an hour to meet their MP’s then so can I!

By the time I got in, the kids had disbanded to every section of Parliament, so it was hard to keep track of them. I spotted a couple of kids who looked like they were at the end of a long day, and the only option left was to slide through the lobby. I was so envious.

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Talking with the organisers later, I was heartened to hear that the several politicians came down to meet and talk with the children, including Simon Hughes, Glenda Jackson, Andy Slaughter and John McDonnall. The protest appeared to have fired them up, because the kids were all eager to talk about the realms of global issues which were affecting them. I have heard politicians claim many times that young people are apathetic to governmental policies, and I hope that Monday’s protest showed them how wrong they are.

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