Extinction Rebellion protest arrests tops 300 - latest news

Extinction Rebellion protests reached more than 300 on the first day of action in London as the climate change group vowed to paralyse London.

The group's first act of the day was to take over one of the country's biggest meat markets by replacing butchery stalls with organic fruit and vegetables.

Activists occupied Smithfield Market in Farrington overnight with a candlelit vigil and set up tents overnight before stalls usually filled with fresh meat on Tuesday mornings had been replaced with vegan options.

Protesters planning two weeks of action brought chaos for commuters on Monday, closing down several streets around Westminster, as part of coordinated actions taking place around the world.

More road closures are expected Tuesday as a predicted 30,000 protesters descend on the capital. Parliament Street, Great Smith Street, and Westminster and Lambeth bridges are expected to be heavily affected.

The Met Police said it had arrested 280 demonstrators by 9.30pm on Monday night, more than double the 122 arrests made on the first day of similar protests last April.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson labelled Extinction Rebellion activists as "uncooperative crusties" and called on them to abandon their "hemp-smelling bivouacs" to allow the capital to function smoothly again.

Mr Johnson was speaking at the launch in London of the third volume of Margaret Thatcher's biography by the former editor of

The Telegraph, Charles Moore, and said: "The best thing possible for the education of the denizens of the heaving hemp-smelling bivouacs that now litter Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park would be for them to stop blocking the traffic and buy a copy of Charles's magnificent book so that they can learn about a true feminist, green and revolutionary who changed the world for the better.

He added: "I hope that when we go out from this place tonight and we are waylaid by importunate nose-ringed climate change protesters, we remind them that she (Mrs Thatcher) was also right about greenhouse gases."

Mr Johnson said he had been advised by his security staff not to attend last night's book launch "because they said the road was full of uncooperative crusties and protesters of all kinds littering the road".

Former Met Detective Sergeant arrested in protests
Former Detective Sergeant for the Metropolitan Police John Curran, 49, who camped overnight at the climate change protests, said he was arrested while protesting with Extinction Rebellion in April and is willing to be arrested again.

Mr Curran, who is a father to a three-year-old daughter and now makes guitars for a living, said: "I am willing to be arrested again unless some changes happen.

"Clearly there is some frustration (for the police) that they probably have better things to be doing, and I agree, but the responsibility for that must lie with the Government. Take action, and we won't have to be here."

In response to Boris Johnson calling the climate activists "unco-operative crusties", the former detective from Oxford said: "I'm not going to stoop to his level of name-calling. Take action: that's the only demand that I have."

Activists target Department for Transport
The headquarters for the Department For Transport and the Department for Housing and Communities were targeted by activists.

Some protesters glued themselves to the building and to the floor outside the door on Tuesday morning.