Conspiracy theorist Piers Corbyn crashes Extinction Rebellion church service
Conspiracy theorist crashed an church service in London today, angrily telling eco-activists that man-made climate change 'does not exist' and that they were 'working for the Devil'. Video shows the brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn ranting at a congregation at St John's Church in Waterloo before he told a vicar to get off him as he was escorted out. Those gathered for the discussion on climate change, called 'No Faith in Fossil Fuels', then began to sing the John Newton hymn Amazing Grace as the outspoken anti-vaxxer was ushered out. Corbyn rose to prominence as a vocal opponent of Covid vaccines and lockdown restrictions, and has been arrested multiple times - including for comparing Britain's jabs rollout to Auschwitz. He also claims that climate change is caused by lunar and solar phases, not carbon dioxide emissions - and once branded Swedish environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg an 'ignorant, brainwashed child'. Describing the scenes on Twitter, Chine McDonald, director of the Christian think-tank Theos, said: 'Incredibly moving moment when Piers Corbyn tried to disrupt the gathering, but was gently ushered out by an impromptu collective singing of Amazing Grace, complete with harmonies. 'May have also had a little argument with him for handing out leaflets outside and telling people to pray for more CO2.' Today's service organised for Extinction Rebellions involved representatives from Christian Aid, Christian Climate Action, Tearfund and the Catholic charity Cafod. Christian Aid said the plan was to 'come together to pray for our leaders (church, nation, world) to take the necessary action to tackle the current climate emergency'. Organisers also asked people to bring prayers written on paper or cardboard, instead of the usual placards and signs. It comes as Extinction Rebellion stages a four-day demonstration across London, which it has estimated will attract '40,000 to 50,000' activists. People attending the 12pm service were encouraged to arrive from 11.15am, and it was followed by a pilgrimage to Parliament Square via Shell's UK offices. It comes after Transport Secretary Mark Harper said it would be 'terrible' if environmental demonstrations held this weekend disrupted the London Marathon on Sunday - though activists have vowed to avoid doing so. Extinction Rebellion has been in talks with the marathon to ensure minimal disruption along with Just Stop Oil, which is also planning a protest. Mr Harper told LBC: 'First of all, we do live in a free country and it's right that people can protest. But it's also important that people don't disrupt other people going about their normal lives. 'I think it would be terrible for anybody to disrupt the marathon. 'Thousands of people will have trained for a whole year or more for this, many of them raising money for charity, and I think it would be terrible for people to try and use this as an excuse to make a political point.' He added: 'We'll be very robust about dealing with people who break the law.' A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion said: 'We're expecting around 40,000-50,000 people to be outside Parliament over the weekend.' London Marathon director Hugh Brasher has said his talks with Extinction Rebellion had prompted the agreement that 'they will be uniquely asking all their participants to help guard the London Marathon'. He said: 'I trust Extinction Rebellion, they have been very clear of what they are doing and why. I hope Just Stop Oil and the other organisations listen to what we are saying.' The environmental group's spokeswoman said that while its stewards will protect the runners from the protest, 'the whole thing has slightly been taken out of context'. 'We've been in close collaboration with the London Marathon since last year so that our protest can co-exist with the marathon,' she said. 'We met them a couple of days ago and said we were going to protect people from the protest, and I think what the media has taken that to mean is that we're going to protect the race from other groups protesting. 'Really what we meant by it was that we have stewards who will be helping to keep the area safe.' She added that all the organisations signed up to take part in the protest have assured Extinction Rebellion they will not disrupt the marathon. Just Stop Oil confirmed it had also been in talks with the marathon director, and activist Anna Holland told GB News: 'I'm just going to say now, we're not going to disrupt the marathon. 'We do also encourage anyone who's coming to the marathon to also join us to march for the climate because it's so important.'