‘I gave up a six-figure salary to join Extinction Rebellion’

Andrew Medhurst had a lot of flying. He received six salaries and worked all over the world with Lloyds Bank and HSBC.

But he gave up everything to join the extinction insurrection.

Suddenly at Christmas last year. He was designing a pension plan policy to encourage young people to earn money for the future.

But after reading about climate change, a 53-year-old senior who reflected in the harsh summer of 2018 concluded that the pension system "appears to be almost fraudulent." Saving.

He told his colleagues that he would leave the campaign for the district with his notice from the National Employment Savings Trust Nest (Nest). His banking background made him ideal for caring for the group's finances and donations.

Since then he has been arrested twice, running for candidates in the European Parliamentary elections (collecting only 420 votes) and harassing his 24-year-old son. Work. Medhurst said, “He thinks I'm an idiot. "But we agree not to agree."

Not everyone is convinced of the causes or tactics of extinction rebellion. The movement was criticized for blocking public transport and becoming too middle class to lack racial diversity, wasting police resources and targeting the wrong people.

• What does the extinction rebellion want?
• Extinct insurrection protesters ignore police ban

Although the movement contributed to raising public awareness of climate issues, it has not yet addressed specific policy changes as a result of that measure.

Some are done through red suits, fake blood, pink boats and media-savvy demonstrations involving celebrities. But it also vowed to reduce its influence through people like Medhurst.

"I suffered a lot of damage," he admitted, and the carbon lifestyle was greatly "out of ignorance." Nowadays he is not ashamed to avoid flying and seeing from the pointed top with holes.

& # 39; radical transparency & # 39;

But as a former businessman, he gives specific gravity to this matter. He is an organization's financial team leader, focusing on profit as much as the revolution.

The media pointed out how to make money to support members' operations, and Medhurst said this year the organization raised more than 2.5 million pounds.

Gifts from donors who donated more than 5,000 pounds between early March and late September totaled 1.2 million pounds. The sponsor list includes rock band Radiohead, which donated £ 300,000.

Meanwhile, the online fundraising page attracted another £ 1 million from small donors.

And the donation, together with two limited companies in the UK, will fund sophisticated financial operations and establish international branches in Europe to pay for activities around the world.

But Medhurst said that the "radical transparency" policy will be maintained wherever the funds go.

salary

Extinction Rebellion's site lists every single cost, from a £ 7,350 payment for colored boats sent across the country, to a £ 1,313 premium for fire trucks used in the ominous attempts to spoof blood to the Treasury.

Surprisingly, however, for a group of activists, the biggest outgoing of the group is salary.

Activists can claim up to 400 pounds of so-called "voluntary living expenses" per week, which will allow the group to return £ 130,000 only in June, July and August.

Medhurst aims to make activism accessible so that supporters with children can pay for food or mortgages, Medhurst says. It's a trust-based system, and supporters don't apply for fees if they don't need it like themselves.

But protests are expensive in other ways as well. He said it cost about 1 million pounds to the event in October.

The restroom cost £ 30,000, the £ 30,000 fee for electricity, £ 25,000 for acoustic equipment such as microphones and speakers, and the £ 50,000 bill that provides 3 meals a day for 20,000 sportsmen a day.

The group spent another 200,000 pounds on things like flyers and coaches to bus thousands of activists far from Scotland.

Then there is a huge bill following the 1,828 arrests of activists.

Another £ 120,000 was spent on "media and messaging" costs in October and paid 70,000 pounds separately for the so-called "renewable culture", including providing a "safe space" for activists who need to recover after being arrested. .

Of course, it is not just the exercise itself that incurs costs.

Metropolitan police say they have spent £ 37m this year to monitor the activity of the extinction insurgency. Only 21 October protests cost 21 million pounds. The street of the capital.

But Medhurst insists pale figures compared to future climate change costs, pointing out that Britain spends billions of pounds to support the fossil fuel industry.

"It sounds like a lot of money [but] Another way is how much will it cost if the government does not take the necessary measures to prevent social collapse due to climate change? "

He said that spending on climate demonstrations is "time to save nine hours."

And he admits that extinction rebellion does not always fit the right strategy.

"I don't have all the answers. We're doing everything we can think of."