The secret 1990s battle returns to the UK

In the 1990s, a group of environmental activists dug a series of complexes Tunnels under the A30 motorway In the British province of Devon. They were protesting the authorities’ intention to divert this road and Daniel Hopper, the group’s leader, spent seven days and many nights inside the tunnel, avoiding being evicted by the police.

Now, three decades later, another group of protesters has followed in his footsteps and decided to protest in the same way. They occupied a tunnel over 30 meters long Long below Euston Park, in central London, because they made it clear that the park was in danger. Highlights of the new HS2 railway, set to connect London with the cities of Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds via high speed.

They are not the only protests the Earth has had as a hero. In 1996, the same thing happened in the small town of Newbury, and in 1999 a protest took place in London’s Crystal Palace, and in 2013, The activists returned underground In an effort to stop a modification of the highway between Bexhill and Hastings, in the south of the country, which finally opened two years later.

The possibilities of tunnels

Some activists who participated in the 1990s protests explained that tunnel construction is one of the few More effective protest tacticsEspecially when it comes to stopping construction of roads, railways, subways, etc. The reason is that getting them out of the tunnels not only takes time, it costs money and can lead to significant delays.

The most common protests, whether in parks, squares, or otherwise. It makes it easier for security forces to act on it. However, when the activists decide to go into hiding Underground, problems multiplyA: Not only do they have to work inside the tunnel, but they also have to do so without causing transportation problems or endangering lives.

Now, the HS2 line faces a serious problem, an activist explained toWatchman‘: “At the end of the day, it’s about money. HS2 will do the math and add the police and security costs, construction schedule delays and the professionals they will need to get the activists out of the tunnel. There are six or seven anti-HS2 camps along the way Planned. If all these camps build tunnels, the HS2 project could face serious problems. ”

Activists have their own “Bible”, Evidence Which is based on the tunnels created during the Vietnam War: “Tunnel digging is the last and A desperate tactic of desperate people in troubled times“.