The modern environmental direct action movement in the United Kingdom started in 1991 with the formation of the first UK "Earth First!" group for a protest at Dungeness nuclear power station. Within two years, there were fifty Earth First groups and activists linked with other parties in the road protest movement. There were large camps at Twyford Down and the M11 link road protest. By 1997, the Government had decided to reduce its road-building plans by two thirds.

SchNEWS was a free weekly publication from Brighton, England, which ran from November 1994 until September 2014. The main focus was environmental and social issues/struggles in the UK – but also internationally – with an emphasis on direct action protest, and autonomous political struggles outside formalised political parties.