Environmental activist Roger Hallam, co-founder of both Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain, has published an extraordinary 20 page treatise calling on young people to take illegal direct action to save their generation from ‘annihilation’. It paints an apocalyptic vision of the effects of climate change, prophesying that a failure to act will lead to their deaths and complete social breakdown:
Hallam, who wrote the letter while he was in prison on suspicion of flying drones around Heathrow Airport last year, said he delayed publication so that it could find the right audience. Explaining that the Radical Left and Liberal Left had failed in the efforts to save the environment over the last 30 years, the activist demanded that the young take a fresh approach to non-violent direct action:
Continuing the terrifying tone, Hallam warns that sooner or later young people will ‘feel the terror and horror of what is to come’:
Hallam insists that he does not advocate violence, which ‘only poisons hearts’, but instead hopes to radically subvert the nation state, which is where ‘power lies’:
For decades, Roger Hallam has been involved in various forms of radical environmental protest, leading at times to stints in prison. But over the last two years, the activist has changed tack, leaving behind historically Left-leaning environmental groups to make a pitch to social conservatives and centrists. In a conversation with UnHerd last year, he told Freddie Sayers that “disruption isn’t anti-conservative” and argued that conservatives should not be afraid to embrace radical environmentalism.
Whether conservatives will be attracted by his latest broadside remains to be seen.
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
Subscribe