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Playmate, witch and now eco warrior trying to shut down Heathrow
Robert Mendick and Nigel Rosser9 Jan 2009
ONE of the organisers of a mass protest trying to shut down a Heathrow terminal is a former soft-porn model turned witch.
Thousands of anti-aviation activists are expected to descend on Heathrow on Monday in an attempt to occupy Terminal 1, causing chaos for passengers.
They are protesting against the airport's proposed expansion - the Government is widely expected to give the go-ahead for a third runway next week.
The Evening Standard can reveal today that a leading member of protest group Climate Rush is a former Playboy playmate of the month.
Marina Pepper, 41, a mother of two, has been active in rallying support for Monday's demonstration. Last month, she formed a delegation from Climate Rush which lobbied MPs in Westminster urging them to back Monday's protest. The group was founded by 23-year-old Tamsin Omond, a Cambridge graduate who was convicted last year over a rooftop protest on the Palace of Westminster.
Mrs Pepper began her glamour-modelling career as a Sun Page 3 girl aged 17 - when her name was Marina Baker - and was Playboy playmate of the Month in 1987 at the age of 19. Her entry on Wikipedia describes her as a "bisexual witch" who once had a relationship with public relations guru Matthew Freud. She left modelling in her twenties and became a journalist, working in the mid-Nineties for the Standard. It was while covering the protests over the plans to build a bypass at Newbury for this paper that she became committed to the environmental cause.
Mrs Pepper is a Liberal Democrat town councillor in Telscombe, East Sussex, and stood as a Lib-Dem parliamentary candidate in the last general election. She has also written books on witchcraft.
Asked if it was unusual for a former Playboy playmate to head an environmental campaign group, Mrs Pepper told the Standard today: "There are less than a handful of women in the UK who have ever been Playboy centrefolds. The thing is there are people from all walks of life who understand the science and want something to happen.
"Monday's protest will be peaceful and law-abiding. There is a slight touch of polite disobedience. We need to speak out in the only way we can which is peacefully and forcefully."
The Climate Rush demonstration follows a protest against Parliament late last year which led to a stand-off between campaigners and police.
In an interview today, Colin Matthews, chief executive of BAA which owns Heathrow, insisted expansion was vital but admitted he took "no pleasure" from "stirring up people's lives". Part of a village will have to be demolished to make way for a third runway and the extra noise risks blighting many more homes.
Monday's protest has already garnered the support of more than 1,000 people on Facebook. The organisers - who believe domestic and short-haul flights should be banned - will distribute a list of ways to penetrate Terminal 1, fearful that BAA will try to stop non-travellers entering.
At 7pm, protesters, at least some of whom will wear Edwardian costume in homage to the suffragettes, will stage a sit-in beginning surreally with a "peaceful picnic" accompanied by a string quartet. An art collective will also stage an impromptu exhibition. Mrs Pepper said: "This Climate Rush event is going to be big. People are waking up to the idea enough is enough."
Reader views (7)
Sounds to me like the typical NL attempt to smear opponents.
There is a genuine argument to be had on this subject and this should be done on the facts. Instead we get leaks about the past lives of anyone who goes against the government or big business othodoxy.
I bet they wouldn't dare go against someone like Germaine Greer, even though she had a fairly interesting past life in the 60s, so why do it to this woman?
- David Weston, London, 12/01/2009 10:02
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to these people who want to do good
i only ever flew long haul to make friedship and peace
ive taught my students pankhust benn et al.ive always been eco-good. i hope you dont make trouble for me going home to bury my mum.i have to fly.there is no alternative.my sympathies to the villagers but are they poor or starving? you just want popular glory.old dependants addicted to spotlight.world peace by open education and gentle discussion only way forward.get a life!use your imagination maybe you could do good. bleeting in a herd dont help never has.eg Pankhust.what an individual 
.most people just want a roof over their heads.they should be educating the children cos we live in ignorant times.we will be judged by future generations.will they have the education they need. learn law,take to parliment take to court,take to the pub and the sports venues thats where you have an audience.where your going you'll only have a line of coppers.leave ordinary travellers alone or cleaver people will start to plot againt you in a polite way of course.but their imagination might be enormously greater than yours.provoke a response and it might come to your embarassment.there are many peaceful amusing and demonstrative ways to achieve your aims.and better venues than this way you choose.its unimaginative and lame.find out who you need to tackle and tackle them outside their squashcourt.use humour not anger.what about promoting& funding more sea travel might be a good future in that. duh!
- Hugh Aidan Compton Clarke, wei hai china, 12/01/2009 06:42
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There's nothing wrong with peaceful protest - its when the professional agitators join in and 'spice things up a bit' that it all comes unstuck. Then they all get tarred with the same brush. To be honest, the organizers can't say that they don't expect trouble from these people, so they are culpable too.
- Rogan, Irving, 09/01/2009 19:06
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The authorities will have there hands full with her, snigger snigger !
- Brian, Wiltshire, 09/01/2009 17:11
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What the heck have the Suffragettes got to do with it??! Why not dress up as train drivers to emphasise what cr@p and expensive rail options there are if you're looking for an alternative to flying to see your relatives?
They need more focus to get their point across, then no-one would give a tinker's if they're soft porn models or not and would focus on the cause itself.
- Roz, Chamonix, France, 09/01/2009 15:10
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I think I prefer the "before" image...
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland, 09/01/2009 12:01
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Sounds like she's had a full and varied life.
Good for her!
- Jamie B, London, 09/01/2009 10:51
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