Extinction Rebellion slammed over plot to flood Britain’s financial centre with clowns

EXTINCTION Rebellion has been slammed over a plot to flood Britain’s financial centre with clowns and fake yuppies.

Thousands of eco-zealots will target insurance firms in the City of London next week.

XR has written to 40 bosses threatening action unless they stop insuring oil and gas projects.

Its messages appeal for “trained clowns”, drummers and singers to take part in an event starting outside the Royal Exchange.

They promise to send activists in business attire into pubs to chat to City workers, and team up with pro-Palestine protesters outside the Lloyd’s insurance building.

An “action pack” suggests that they also block businesses’ phonelines, flood staff with emails and leave one-star reviews.

Demos are planned in other cities.

Tory MP Craig Tracey said: “Everyone has the right to protest but they should remember many insurers do a lot for environmental causes and allow the development of green tech."

Another MP said: “I fear XR’s plans will backfire, and that is a shame for dealing with the climate crisis.”

Commander Umer Khan, City of London Police said: “City of London Police have increased patrols and will be more visible as they seek to reassure our communities throughout the week. Behaviour crossing the line into criminality will not be tolerated in the city and will lead to us making arrests.”

A spokesperson said: “Perhaps MPs should grow up and stop the silly name-calling and instead consider the facts. Major insurance companies in the City of London are currently greenlighting giant ‘carbon bomb’ oil and gas projects all over the world that will accelerate the climate crisis to levels that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres warn will create a future of killer storms and heatwaves, famine, floods and war for us all.

“But it doesn’t have to be this way. Insurers could pull the plug on the whole fossil fuel industry overnight by simply refusing to insure it. So, we will be visiting insurance firms in London, and all over the UK next week to invite them to be climate heroes rather than climate zeroes by refusing to insure the oil and gas barons who are creating climate chaos.”