Climate change protester's millionaire father 'wanted to chop down trees'

One of the activists behind the chaos caused by climate change protests this week is revealed as the daughter of a millionaire who reportedly wanted to chop down trees and create more traffic to improve his £2million estate.

The father of Laura Reeves, who is involved in the Extinction Rebellion (XR), is thought to have applied for planning permission to turn his garden into a three-bed house.

But John-William Reeves, 70, of Orpington, Kent, had his application denied after locals said 'it's not good for the environment,' according to the Sun on Sunday.

Laura Reeves

Laura Reeves

The father of Laura Reeves, who is involved in the Extinction Rebellion (XR), is thought to have applied for planning permission to turn his garden into a three-bed house. Pictured: Laura Reeves

John-William Reeves, 70, said he was 'very proud' of his 29-year-old daughter (pictured)

John-William Reeves, 70, said he was 'very proud' of his 29-year-old daughter (pictured)

Mr Reeves told the publication that he was 'very proud' of his 29-year-old daughter, who became in involved in the protest group after she was left feeling 'deflated' by 'office activism' having worked for NGOs including the United Nations.

He added: 'I brought my girls up to respect the environment.'

His actress and artistic director daughter took to the stage at Marble Arch last week to address hundreds of activists, and describes herself as a 'vision holder' for XR.

Miss Reeves, whose online show reel lists roles in commercials for River Island and Nikuma Jewellery, has previously lived in New York but is now based in London

Miss Reeves, whose online show reel lists roles in commercials for River Island and Nikuma Jewellery, has previously lived in New York but is now based in London

Miss Reeves, whose online show reel lists roles in commercials for River Island and Nikuma Jewellery, has previously lived in New York but is now based in London

Police try to remove an activist from Extension Rebellion glued to the ground as they attempt to clear all protesters from Oxford Circus on Saturday

Police try to remove an activist from Extension Rebellion glued to the ground as they attempt to clear all protesters from Oxford Circus on Saturday

Miss Reeves, whose online show reel lists roles in commercials for River Island and Nikuma Jewellery, has previously lived in New York but is now based in London.

Who are Extinction Rebellion and how are they funded? 

Extinction Rebellion grew out of the activist group 'Rising Up!' which unsuccessfully tried to stop the expansion of Heathrow Airport.

Established in Britain in May 2018, the group has been organised and partly financed by a private limited company called Compassionate Revolution.

Its financial support comes from philanthropic foundations and crowdfunding - with an online campaign having raised £166,000 since launching in October.

XR now has more than 100 groups across Britain alone, with up to 10,000 supporters drawn to the protests in London this week.

It has groups in dozens of countries including South Africa, India and even the Solomon Islands - with the latest campaign involving people in at least 80 cities in more than 33 countries.

Last November, the group held a protest which blocked bridges across London to bring chaos to the capital.

In February, they took part in a UK-wide school strike and on April 1, during one of the Brexit debates, a group of their protesters stripped off in the House of Commons.

She flaunts photos of holidays in far flung destinations such as Peru and the Burning Man festival in Nevada on social media, despite the damage caused by air travel.

She said: 'This just isn't a priority for the government but this is literally a matter of life and death, there will be no future unless drastic steps are taken.

'Half of life, half the world's species, has become extinct since the 1970s. The government needs to declare a climate emergency.'

Miss Reeves urged members of the crowd to put their heads together and discuss ways in which they could help make their message resonate.

'We have got to come together or we will become extinct,' she said 'People are now starting to wake up. How can anything be more important than life on Earth?'

It comes as eco-activists plot to cause traffic misery for tens of thousands of families today by blocking one of the busiest roads into London.

The Extinction Rebellion is organising a ‘picnic’ on the Westway, a key route along the A40 into the capital from the West, in a protest that would cause mayhem for tourists, Bank Holiday day trippers and Londoners returning home from weekend breaks.

It follows a week of chaos in London, during which hundreds of mainly middle-class eco-warriors blocked Oxford Circus, Waterloo Bridge, Parliament Square and Marble Arch, costing businesses tens of millions of pounds.

After fierce criticism of their ‘softly-softly’ tactics, police officers on Friday finally broke-up the Oxford Circus protest site.

The (very middle-class) voices of the Rebellion

Jane Augsburger, 54, from Stroud, Glos was arrested for criminal damage outside Shell's headquarters on Monday

Jane Augsburger, 54, from Stroud, Glos was arrested for criminal damage outside Shell's headquarters on Monday

The care worker: Jane Augsburger, 54, from Stroud, Gloucestershire, was one of those arrested for criminal damage outside Shell's headquarters on Monday. Pictures show the mother-of-one grinning and kneeling down beside a smashed glass door at the front of the company's office building. The care worker, a Jeremy Corbyn supporter, previously lived in the Dordogne in a luxurious home with a pool.

The proud parent: Katerina Hasapopoulos, 40, superglued herself to the Shell headquarters on Monday. Before her arrest, the mother-of-three said: 'Shell is already responsible for destroying lives in places like Nigeria.Shell cares only for profit and I have three beautiful young girls who I want to see grow up to have a future.' She has previously attended Stroud Town Council to ask questions about climate change.

The motorway marauder: Simon Bramwell, 46, also from Stroud, is a co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, and a former builder. He was taken away in a police van after supergluing himself to the Shell HQ on Monday.He was part of a group of fanatics who brought the M4 to a standstill in protest at plans to expand Heathrow in 2016. The bush craft instructor said 'hearing less birds' convinced him to form a 'punchier' environmental movement.

The jet dismantler: Angie Zelter, 76, was arrested yesterday and carried off Waterloo Bridge after refusing to budge. The veteran protester has been arrested over 100 times across the world and describes herself as a 'global citizen'. In 1996 she was part of a group that disarmed a BAE Hawk Jet, preventing it from being exported to Indonesia.

The godmother: Dr Gail Bradbrook, 47, is described as 'the godmother' of Extinction Rebellion. She became an activist as a result of taking psychedelic drugs. Dr Bradbrook, who has a PhD in molecular biophysics, said drugs 'rewired' her brain and gave her 'the codes of social change'. She holds 'moon circles' in a tepee, where she ingests mugwort.

The breast booster: Zack Polanski, a Green Party candidate for the London Assembly once claimed his hypnotherapy skills could help women grow bigger breasts. He said: 'It's so safe and cheaper than a boob job.'

The palace raider: Rowan Tilly, from Oxford, was among protesters who took part in an 'anti-nuclear raid' at Buckingham Palace in 1993. The furniture maker compared her civil disobedience to the actions of Gandhi, Martin Luther King and the suffragettes.

The organic farmer: Roger Hallam, 52, became interested in climate change in his 40s when an organic farm he ran in Wales went bust because of bad weather. He now wants to 'bring down all the regimes in the world', starting with Britain.

The actress: Laura Reeves, an actress and artistic director from London, has previously lived in New York and worked for the United Nations. Her show reel lists roles in adverts for River Island and Nikuma Jewellery. She has also posted photographs of holidays in Peru and at the Burning Man festival in Nevada, US.

Police form a human barrier in Oxford Street to prevent members of the public getting close on Saturday

Police form a human barrier in Oxford Street to prevent members of the public getting close on Saturday 

Pink paper boats are seen as climate change activists continue to block the road at Oxford Circus in London on Saturday

Pink paper boats are seen as climate change activists continue to block the road at Oxford Circus in London on Saturday

Protesters were pictured tonight in Parliament Square after a day of demonstrations across the capital

Around 20 demonstrators were arrested after officers encircled them at around 1pm. About ten locked their hands together inside concrete-lined metal tubes, which had to be broken with cutting devices. 

A final group of 200 protesters dispersed at 5pm and the road reopened, with dozens of officers on patrol Friday night to prevent it being re-taken. But Waterloo Bridge remained blocked. 

Police were urging protesters to confine themselves to Marble Arch. 

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick condemned last week’s ‘miserable disruption’ which has led to more than 750 people being arrested, with 28 charged. With the protests set to enter a second week, The Mail on Sunday can reveal:

One woman smiles as she is arrested and taken away by police officers attending the demonstrations in Parliament Square

One woman smiles as she is arrested and taken away by police officers attending the demonstrations in Parliament Square 

Police officers were pictured trying to remove climate activists at the Extinction Rebellion demonstration in Parliament Square

Police officers were pictured trying to remove climate activists at the Extinction Rebellion demonstration in Parliament Square 

One woman smiled as she pointed at her friend who was being detained in a police van this evening

One woman smiled as she pointed at her friend who was being detained in a police van this evening

A climate activist who had been detained was smiling as she sat in a police van

A climate activist who had been detained was smiling as she sat in a police van

This evening activists remained on Waterloo Bridge ahead of more planned protests tomorrow

This evening activists remained on Waterloo Bridge ahead of more planned protests tomorrow 

Eco-warriors are using encrypted messages to swap intelligence on police tactics and discuss how they have ‘converted’ some officers to their cause;Activists have drawn up sinister plans to ‘infiltrate the school system’ in a bid to ‘educate children’;Six celebrities who backed the XR protests have flown almost seven times around the world between them over the last year, racking up 30 tonnes of flight-related carbon dioxide emissions;A MoS reporter gained access to XR control centre, where ringleaders organise ‘flash’ protests with military precision;The Met asked for 200 extra officers from neighbouring forces amid claims that officers are ‘burnt out’.

The threatened protest on the Westway – a three-mile long, elevated dual carriageway – is set to put even more pressure on police.

More than 160 activists have indicated online they will attend the so-called ‘Last Picnic’ on Westway from 11am to 3pm, which organisers say is inspired by an 1862 oil painting The Luncheon on the Grass by Edouard Manet. Protesters have been urged to bring board games, frisbees and croquet sets.

Protest leader: I drive a diesel

Gail Bradbrook has admitted that she still drives a highly polluting diesel car.

The molecular biophysicist, left, who helped to orchestrate almost a week of disruption, revealed she would not ‘paint herself as a saint on the green front’.

She also defended XR against claims that it is elitist, arguing: ‘In loads of successful civil disobedience movements, you’ll find some of the people who were leading them were a bit posh.’

A self-proclaimed ‘neo-pagan’, the 47-year-old says she experienced a ‘download from the Universe’ in Costa Rica in 2016 – after taking the psychedelic drugs ibogaine and ayahuasca – which opened her eyes to the environmental crisis.

She has left the care of her sons, aged ten and 13, to her second husband, but plans to return home to Stroud this week for her youngest’s 11th birthday.

 

But AA president Edmund King said blocking Westway would be ‘totally irresponsible’ and he urged the Met to prevent it. ‘It will cause absolute gridlock, more emissions and more pollution,’ he added.

Meanwhile, leaked WhatsApp messages reveal how protesters have fostered close relationship with the police and gleaned intelligence on their tactics. In one, activists were advised to request being taken to Croydon police station if they are arrested as they will spend less time in cells there and its custody suite boasts vegan food.

There are increasing fears that protests by XR, which boasts more than 100 regional groups, could spread nationwide. Leaked minutes from a meeting of activists in Devon earlier this year reveal plans to ‘educate children and infiltrate the school system’ along with the use of puppets and street theatre to blockade streets.

Activists, meanwhile, are asked to ‘question our attachment to having pets – what is the carbon footprint of cat/dog ownership?’

XR’s campaign has won widespread celebrity backing, but an analysis by The Mail on Sunday exposes the hypocrisy of six who have voiced their support.

Dame Emma Thompson, actors Willem Dafoe and Simon Pegg, plus wildlife presenter Chris

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