Mother, 62, deflates tyres on 100 SUVs – and wants ‘army of middle-aged women’ to join her protest
A 62-year-old mother says she has deflated tyres on about 100 SUVs in the last month – and wants to recruit an “army of middle-aged women” to join her protest action.
The member of controversial climate activist group The Tyre Extinguishers told Sky News she feels “exasperated” with drivers of the “destructive” vehicles.
The woman, who asked to be called Anna, says she targets SUVs in west London as she cycles home from work – and once deflated tyres on 16 vehicles in one evening.
She says passers-by have never questioned her because she does not look “threatening” or “suspicious” – but she was confronted by two drivers whose car tyres she let down.
The protester, who is a writer and film editor, says she is willing to spend time in jail over her cause and will only stop if the government takes action against SUVs, including banning adverts for the vehicles.
“I don’t see there is any justification for them,” she told Sky News.
“The pollution they cause affects all of us, it certainly affects me.
“They’re intimidating for cyclists and pedestrians… I’ve come off my bike because of two SUVs.
“I don’t want to be breaking the law. If these cars are doing so much damage, then attention needs to be drawn to it.”
The Tyre Extinguishers post a notice on SUVs after deflating their tyres
Anna, who no longer owns a car but used to drive a Toyota RAV, says she deflates SUV tyres by putting lentils in the valves.
“I tend to have an hour’s go, usually in the evening when it’s getting dark,” she says.
“It’s not a nice thing to be doing. I get really dirty.
‘My children are encouraging’
“I just feel compelled to do something. I also feel what I do is a drop in the ocean, there are so many.
“Where I live, there are about five per street. And I don’t know who the people are, actually.”
Anna says she started deflating tyres on SUVs about four weeks ago and her three children, aged in their 20s and 30s, are “very encouraging”.
The Tyre Extinguishers released this picture of a protester deflating a tyre. File pic
“I’ve done about 100 now,” she adds.
“I can be quicker if it’s in daylight because I can see immediately where the valve is. But it’s obviously less frightening to do it when it’s getting dark.”
She says she does not cover her face to try to hide her identity when she deflates the tyres, and has even targeted SUVs on the street where she lives.
‘I don’t look suspicious’
On the two occasions she has been confronted, the drivers were chauffeurs – including one who said her actions were “very wrong” but they “ended up wishing each other a good day”, according to Anna.
Neither driver threatened to involve the police, she adds.
Anna says passers-by have never stopped her to ask what she is doing, saying: “I’m 62. I don’t think I look threatening. I don’t look suspicious.
“I have thought of getting my children involved but they would look much more suspicious.
“We need an army of late-middle-aged women.”
Anna admits she is worried about causing an accident if a driver fails to realise their car tyre has been deflated.
But she says: “I don’t do it if I think the person is going to drive away soon because the tyres go down slowly.
“I do it hoping they will find the car in the morning completely deflated.”
Not afraid of going to jail
Anna – who says she has no criminal record and has never previously taken part in direct action – says she is not scared of being arrested over her antics or going to jail.
“Maybe I’m being naive,” she says. “My daughter said she’d come and see me.
“I don’t feel ashamed of doing it. If it gets attention, that would be a good thing.”
A car in Didsbury, Manchester, had its tyres deflated by the Tyre Extinguishers
Anna says the size of modern SUVs is “quite frightening” and she claims they are “incredibly destructive”.
‘I feel exasperation for them’
On SUV drivers, she says: “Have you no thought for the people in Pakistan suffering from the climate extremes?
“I feel exasperation with them and it would be good if they were made to consider what they’re doing.”
The Tyre Extinguishers say they want to “strike fear” into owners of “gas guzzling” SUVs and claim to have deflated tyres on thousands of cars across the UK since March.
The activists say they have struck in London, Brighton, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Sheffield and Cambridge – and their campaign is “escalating fast”.
They have warned more cities are set to be targeted as they aim to deflate tyres on more than 10,000 vehicles by the end of the year.
Police have warned the group’s actions “will absolutely not be tolerated” and have sought to catch those involved.
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party.
The 53-year-old MP is the first to jump ship since the general election and in her resignation letter criticised the prime minister for accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts.
She told Sir Keir Starmer the reason for leaving now is “the programme of policies you seem determined to stick to”, despite their unpopularity with the electorate and MPs.
In her letter she accused the prime minister and his top team of “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” which are “off the scale”.
“I’m so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party,” she said.
Rosie Duffield. Pic: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via Reuters
Sir Keir has faced backlash after a Sky News report revealed he had received substantially more freebies than any other MP since becoming Labour leader.
Since December 2019, the prime minister received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality – a specific category in parliament’s register of MPs’ interests.
Ms Duffield, who has previously clashed with the prime minister on gender issues, attacked the government for pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies as she resigned the Labour whip.
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She criticised the decision to keep the two-child benefit cap and means-test the winter fuel payment, and accused the prime minister of “hypocrisy” over his acceptance of free gifts from donors.
“Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous,” she said.
“I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.”
Ms Duffield also mentioned the recent “treatment of Diane Abbott”, who said she thought she had been barred from standing by Labour ahead of the general election, before Sir Keir said she would be allowed to defend her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat for the party.
Her relationship with the Labour leadership has long been strained and her decision to quit the party comes after seven other Labour MPs were suspended for rebelling by voting for a motion calling for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished.
“Someone with far-above-average wealth choosing to keep the Conservatives’ two-child limit to benefit payments which entrenches children in poverty, while inexplicably accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses costing more than most of those people can grasp – this is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour prime minister,” she said.
Ms Duffield said she will continue to represent her constituents as an independent MP, “guided by my core Labour values”.
UK
King Charles hails ‘uniquely special’ Scotland as it marks Holyrood milestone – before being hugged by woman
The King has paid tribute to Scotland as a “uniquely special place” for the Royal Family as he marked the 25th anniversary of the Scottish parliament.
At the ceremony to commemorate a quarter of a century since parliament opened at Holyrood, the King said: “Speaking from a personal perspective, Scotland has always had a uniquely special place in the hearts of my family and myself.
“My beloved grandmother was proudly Scottish, my late mother especially treasured the time spent at Balmoral, and it was there in the most beloved of places, where she chose to spend her final days.”
He said we are all “united by our love of Scotland”, paying tribute to its “natural beauty”, “strength of character”, “diversity of its people”, “passions and frequently deeply held beliefs”.
“From the central belt to the north Highlands, across the islands in Ayrshire, in the Borders, the cities, towns and villages, all the coastal communities, who I wonder, could not fail to be moved by this complex Caledonian kaleidoscope?,” he asked as presiding officer Alison Johnstone and the Queen sat beside him.
After he gave the speech, the King was hugged by a member of the public – who said she did so “because of him being unwell”.
The 75-year-old was diagnosed with cancer in February but has since returned to public duties.
Yvonne Macmillan, 59, from East Renfrewshire, attended the anniversary ceremony with her husband Russell who is registered blind and chosen as a “local hero” for work in their area.
“I asked him if he was feeling better and if I could give him a hug. I actually said to him: ‘Can I hug you?’,” she said.
“As I hugged him I said, ‘God bless you’, so it was like God giving him a hug.”
The King listens to the presiding officer of the Scottish parliament at Holyrood. Pic: PA
The Queen sits alongside the King as he makes his speech on Saturday. Pic: PA
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While Sir Tony Blair’s Labour government legislated for Scottish devolution in 1997 – parliament officially opened at Holyrood on 1 July 1999.
The King has made six visits to the parliament since 1999 – while his mother Queen Elizabeth II made 10 visits during her lifetime.
The King arrives at the Scottish parliament on Saturday. Pic: PA
Scottish First Minister John Swinney is one of a number of MSPs who have been at Holyrood since the start of devolution.
He said in his own speech in Edinburgh on Saturday that the parliament has “placed itself at the very heart of the nation”, describing it as a “vessel of enlightenment, invention and creativity”.
The King shakes hands with First Minister John Swinney in Edinburgh on Saturday. Pic: PA
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The SNP’s Christine Grahame is another MSP who has been there since the start.
“Free tuition, free prescriptions, game-changing policies to tackle child poverty, the ban on smoking, the baby box, ScotRail back in public ownership – none of this would have been possible without the Scottish parliament and the strength of our commitment to self-determination,” she said on Saturday.
The King said the devolved parliament has the ability to “touch and to improve the lives of so many individuals”.
Former first ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf take a selfie as they wait for the King. Pic: PA
But he added that “there remains much more to be done” for Scotland, the rest of the UK, particularly with regards to climate change.
“Let this moment therefore be the beginning of the next chapter,” he told those assembled.
“The achievement of the past and the commitment shown in the present give us the soundest basis for confidence in the future.”
A moped riding phone thief was caught red-handed after police tracked the device down hours after he snatched it from a woman’s hand.
CCTV footage released by police showed a masked moped rider mount the pavement in Croydon, south London, to swipe a phone from a woman’s hand on 6 March, while another victim had theirs stolen while they waited for a bus an hour later.
Amari Scott, 20, looked surprised when confronted by officers inside a shop, where he was found with two mobile phones.
Amari Scott was caught red-handed. Pic: Met Police
“We’ve just had a moped rob a mobile phone off the pavement and the phone is pinging in this location,” one of the officers told him in body-worn camera footage before Scott was handcuffed and led away.
Police also recovered a stolen motorbike and Scott, from Sutton, south London, was later jailed for four years.
Two teenagers who committed four robberies in the space of just half an hour were also arrested as part of a crackdown in Croydon.
Aged 16 and 17, the teens were issued with referral orders after pleading guilty to charges of robbery, attempted robbery and attempted grievous bodily harm.
Amari Scott was jailed for four years. Pic: Met Police
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They were behind a spree of eight robberies across Croydon and nearby Bromley, including four within 30 minutes on the morning of 5 August.
Their crimes, which included the knife point robbery of a rough sleeper outside Croydon library, were caught on CCTV.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
One of the teenagers tried to discard a knife before she was arrested after a foot chase, telling officers: “The knife wasn’t mine”.
The other ran away, leaving a knife and his bag, but was lying in bed at home when he was arrested shortly after.
Two teenagers committed four robberies in 30 minutes. Pic: Met Police
The Metropolitan Police said officers are intensifying efforts to tackle robbery and theft, encouraging victims to report incidents as they happen to increase the chances of catching the criminals.
Chief Inspector James Weston said: “We understand the impact that robbery has on victims – it is invasive and frightening.
“That’s why our teams are working so hard to deter and catch offenders to reassure our local community.
“Thanks to the hard work of officers, our partners and community grassroots organisations, we are stepping up our efforts and tackling the issues that matter most to the people of Croydon.”
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