Can you stage a major protest rally that involves the arrest of over a thousand people and still be pleasant?

Climate protest group Extinction Rebellion has caused mayhem in London with a series of peaceable demonstrations over the past week.

They hit headlines around the world without causing any major damage or anyone suffering injury.

They were happy to be arrested by the police when it was necessary - some even stepped forward and offered to be next to be cuffed.

I congratulate the organisers.

Is that irresponsible? Am I being a woolly, tree-hugging politically-correct liberal? I don't care.

Their demand for a carbon-neutral country by 2025 or risk a devastated planet may be ambitious, but they have raised a critical issue that we MUST address.

n Whether you have visited Notre Dame cathedral or ever been to Paris and looked at its spectacular enormity, you can't help but feel sad over its destruction by fire.

It has been at the heart of Paris for four centuries. It's appeal is worldwide. Some 13 million visit it every year, more than the Eiffel Tower. More than The Tower of London, St Paul's and Buckingham Palace combined.

The emotional effect the inferno has had on the French can't be overwritten. I'm not surprised that one French multi millionaire has pledged 100 million euros and another 200 million to the repairs needed.

It's a lovely, patriotic gesture by both.

But isn't it a shame that they couldn't contribute these amounts to help create homes and jobs for those that need it across France?

Like the UK, it has a major issue with homelessness and there is a rising unemployment crisis, especially among the young.

The banlieues of its cities remain underfunded areas of poverty offering no jobs, services or hope for the inhabitants. Riots and demonstrations are never far from bubbling up.

A massive fundraising drive is now underway to restore Notre Dame, led by the government.

This could take more than a decade. There is nothing wring with that.

Work starts on the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona in 1882. It is not expected to be completed until 2026. It is still an amazing sight and a major tourist attraction.

Before they start on the cathedral, the French government should do more to repair the relations and lives of those living in the banlieues