We are entering a time in UK public life where faith in long standing democratic processes and decision making are in terminal decline. The evidence of this is all around us. There have emerged single issues like Brexit and climate change, which the representative constituency system has failed to properly address.

We have arrived at a point in western democracies where civil disobedience is soon to become the norm. Governmental laws now dictate the fine detail of our lives. My own campaign against the absurd TV Licence Fee tax is a microcosm of the police state in which we now live.

As an outsider to Extinction Rebellion, I have been observing the power of UK state come down on the demonstrations with growing unease. To those praising the crackdown I would say this: wait until you have an issue that you really care about because that same power being used against protestors now will be used against YOU.

In the spectrum of possibilities from climate change, an environmental catastrophe with horrendous loss of life is certainly a possibility. By the time most people realise we have a significant climate problem on our hands it will be too late.

by @BANTHEBBC