London Greenpeace was an anarchist environmentalist activist collective that existed between 1972 and 2001. They were based in London, and came to international prominence when two of their activists refused to capitulate to

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

in the landmark libel case known as "McLibel". It was not affiliated with

Greenpeace International Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to ...

nor with Greenpeace UK.

Origins

In 1972 a group of activists loosely associated with the ''

Peace News ''Peace News'' (''PN'') is a pacifist magazine first published on 6 June 1936 to serve the peace movement in the United Kingdom. From later in 1936 to April 1961 it was the official paper of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU), and from 1990 to 2004 w ...

'' newspaper formed a new group committed to environmentalism and anarchism. Initially the group campaigned for the ending of atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons by France at

Mururoa Moruroa (Mururoa, Mururura), also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is located about southeast of Tahiti. Administratively Moruroa Atoll i ...

atoll in the south Pacific. In support of this, in 1973 the group held a 60-strong protest march from London to Paris, via

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

and

Wattrelos Wattrelos (; archaic ) is a commune in the Nord department in the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. It is located on the border with Belgium, northeast of the city of Lille. The fifth-largest component of the Métropole Européenne ...

, ending in a demonstration at Notre Dame cathedral. Greenpeace

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

was not affiliated with

. Greenpeace International was formed out of a rough coalition of various environmentalist groups in 1971, many of whom were already using the name "Greenpeace". London Greenpeace emphatically wanted to remain independent of this new and larger Greenpeace, which it saw as being too "centralized and mainstream for their tastes".

Political affiliation

The Group was formed to show the links between Militarism and Environmental damage. They have been linked, ideologically and in their activism, with

radical environmentalism Radical environmentalism is a grass-roots branch of the larger environmental movement that emerged from an ecocentrism-based frustration with the co-option of mainstream environmentalism. As a movement Philosophy The radical environmental mo ...

green anarchism Green anarchism (or eco-anarchism"green anarchism (also called eco-anarchism)" in ''An Anarchist FAQ'' by various authors.) is an anarchist school of thought that puts a particular emphasis on ecology and environmental issues. A green anarchist ...

and

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

. They have been officially affiliated with

War Resisters' International War Resisters' International (WRI), headquartered in London, is an international anti-war organisation with members and affiliates in over 30 countries. History ''War Resisters' International'' was founded in Bilthoven, Netherlands in 1921 unde ...

, the

National Peace Council The National Peace Council (NPC), founded in 1908 and disbanded in 2000, acted as the co-ordinating body for almost 200 groups across Britain, with a membership ranging from small village peace groups to national trade unions and local authorities. ...

, and

Campaign Against Arms Trade Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) is a UK-based campaigning organisation working towards the abolition of the international arms trade. It was founded in 1974 by a coalition of peace groups. It has been involved in several high-profile campaig ...

, and supportive of the Animal Liberation movement. In the 1980s they were involved with the Stop the City campaigns, whilst the 1990s saw them helping to initiate the London-wide

Reclaim The Streets Reclaim the Streets also known as RTS, are a collective with a shared ideal of community ownership of public spaces. Participants characterise the collective as a resistance movement opposed to the dominance of corporate forces in globalisa ...

Network. They are viewed as one of the first anarchist groups to promote a specifically environmentalist message. During the second half of the 1970s the group pioneered the campaign against nuclear power, and worked with a number of

anti-nuclear The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, natio ...

alliances such a
Stop Urenco
the Torness Alliance, and the Nuclear Information network. London Greenpeace was also involved in the opposition to the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

, and co-founded the Anti-Falkland War Support network. London Greenpeace gained public attention with the McLibel case, which became well known as one of the first SLAPP suits against freedom of expression.

McDonald's Restaurants McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger ...

sued London Greenpeace, which later morphed into "McDonald's vs Steel and Morris". The case lasted for 15 years and was finally settled in 2005. The McLibel case became famous because McDonald's lost the public relations case in the public mind.

McLibel

In 1990 McDonald's issued proceedings against five London Greenpeace supporters, Paul Gravett, Andrew Clarke and Jonathan O'Farrell,

Helen Steel Helen Steel (born 1965) is an environmental and social justice activist who is known for her involvement in the McLibel case, an English lawsuit for libel filed by McDonald's Corporation that lasted for 10 years and was eventually taken to the Eur ...

and David Morris, for libel. The company offered to withdraw actions against each individual in return for an apology and an undertaking not to repeat the claims. The activists had been distributing a pamphlet throughout London containing allegations regarding starvation in the Third World, destruction of rainforest, the use of recycled paper, links between the company's food and heart disease & breast/bowel cancer, false advertising, the rearing and slaughter of animals, food poisoning, and employment practices. Of the five defendants, Gravett, Clarke and O'Farrell apologised to McDonald's, while Steel and Morris (often referred to as "The McLibel Two") refused. Almost all of London Greenpeace's resources and efforts went to helping the pair over the years the case was heard, but in 1997 both defendants lost and were ordered to pay McDonald's £60,000. However, the extended court battle was a public relations failure for McDonald's; the company decided not to pursue the two defendants for the money.

Dissolution

In 2001 London Greenpeace issued a public statement announcing their dissolution. While the McLibel action brought fresh energy, publicity and urgency to the organisation, this did not last long, and the group felt it best to permanently suspend their efforts.

Undercover police

During October 2011 activists from the group exposed Robert Lambert, whom they had known as Bob Robinson, as being a former undercover police officer who had infiltrated the group. Following a number of court cases that centred on Lambert and other undercover police officers, in 2014 and 2015 the Metropolitan Police apologised and paid substantial compensation to eight women who had discovered they had had intimate relationships with undercover officers, including Lambert. The police admitted that the relationships had been "abusive, deceitful, manipulative and wrong".

References