Following another gantry occupation on what must be Britain’s busiest commuter route, Just Stop Oil has issued a stark warning: “This [today’s occupation of a gantry above the M25] is not a one day event, expect us every day and anywhere. This is an act of resistance against a criminal government and their genocidal death project. Our supporters will be returning – today, tomorrow and the next day – and the next day after that – and every day until our demand is met: no new oil and gas in the UK.“
Without mentioning what the Government’s ‘genocidal death project’ might be but implying a connection to our use of fossil fuels, Just Stop Oil supporters have climbed onto motorway gantries around the M25 as part of their campaign to demand that the government halts all new oil and gas licences and consents. Later on the same day their spokesman appeared on a national radio phone-in and admitted that his organisation had never attempted to meet with the North Sea Transition Authority (the licensing agency) to discuss this very issue.
Just Stop Oil protestors have brought London to a standstill many times in their latest campaign of action to prevent the issue of Oil and Gas permits in the 33rd offshore oil and gas licensing round. Licenses which may be issued in this round, closing this time next year (Thursday 12th November 2023) are four priority cluster areas in the Southern North Sea which have the potential to be developed quickly. The round is written in light of the OGA Strategy which ‘requires industry to operate in a way consistent with net zero ambitions, lowering production emissions and making serious progress on the solutions that can contribute to the UK achieving net zero.’
Just Stop Oil protests are eating into police time, with 8,000 frontline police shifts diverted from fighting crime in local communities to deal with the protests, and police were again deployed this morning to manage the situation as approximately 15 supporters of Just Stop Oil climbed onto the overhead gantries of the M25 in multiple locations, both clockwise and anti-clockwise, causing widespread disruption to traffic.
Charlotte Kirin, 53, a social worker, carer and parent from Bury St Edmunds was quoted by Just Sop Oil as saying
“In order to survive, we need to take action to stop new oil and gas. For as long as the government pretends this isn’t the priority, I will do what I can to demand a response. History shows us that we have to challenge unjust laws. What is being done to people all over the globe in the name of profit is the greatest imaginable injustice. I will not turn my back on people whose lives are being destroyed for rich mens’ profit.”
Edred Whittingham, 25, a student from Cambridge was quoted by Just Sop Oil as saying
“Politics is broken in this country, and it’s up to everday people to fix it. We are living in a time when millions of people are literally going hungry or freezing to death in their homes, while fossil fuel companies are making record profits. We can change this, but we need to resist.Climate change will destroy the global food system while displacing hundreds of millions of people from their homes, leading to starvation, war and social unrest. For our government to be still approving new fossil fuel projects is an act of genocide.”
Molly Berry, 70, a retired lip-reading tutor from Hertfordshire was quoted by Just Sop Oil as saying
“The climate crisis is not left wing or right wing, it’s not an opinion or a point of view or a cause. It’s real, and it’s happening now, and it is getting very close to destroying absolutely everything we love. When my friends show me photographs of their grandchildren it breaks my heart to think of what they will face in their lifetimes. That’s why I am willing to put my liberty on the line to demand that the government halts all new oil and gas.”
Just Stop Oil have issued a warning of further disruption, defiant to changes in the law and to private injunctions seeking to prevent the grouop carrying out actions like today’s, preferring instead to focus on “mass starvation, slaughter, the loss of our rights, freedoms and communities” attributable, they claim, to the Oil and Gas industry.
Two Just Stop Oil supporters have been given draconian custodial sentences after occupying the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at Dartford in London. The Just Stop Oil supporters were demanding that the government halt licensing and consents for the development of any new fossil-fuel projects in the UK.
The pair appeared before Judge Collery at Southend Crown Court. Morgan Trowland has been sentenced to three years and Marcus Decker has been sentenced to two years and seven months. These are the longest sentences for peaceful climate action in UK history.
The pair scaled the QE2 bridge on October 17th 2022 and remained at height for 37 hours, disrupting oil supplies to Kent and the South East. Both men have been held on remand since the incident. [
Speaking prior to sentencing, Morgan Trowland, 40, a bridge design engineer from London, said:
“Marcus and I demonstrated what any two ordinary people will do, when the death screams of the world become unbearable. I cannot enjoy liberty in a society when our government makes plans to kill people on a massive scale. Drilling new oil and gas wells in 2023 means death for many of the most vulnerable on earth. I will not be complicit in that.”
Speaking outside the courtroom Stephanie Golder, a Just Stop Oil spokesperson, said:
“What Morgan and Marcus did was extraordinary, risky and extremely disruptive. But what should you do when your government refuses to protect the people? When it ignores the repeated warnings of the world’s climate scientists. When you know that new oil and gas extraction will eventually result in the deaths of billions of people?”
“Nonviolent civil resistance is the answer. It’s what the Suffragettes did, it’s what the Civil Rights movements did. It’s our best chance of getting the scale of change we need, in the time we need it.”
“Just Stop Oil will not be deterred by these draconian sentences. Where they imprison one of us, ten more will take their place. When they imprison ten of us, one hundred will stand to take their place. We must unite against this genocidal government and be brave.”
“For now, that means slowly marching around the streets of London. It is an act of self respect, an act of solidarity, an act of love and necessity. We urge you to join us, because together we can stop the harm that is new oil and gas. Our campaign resumes on April 24th. Sign up at juststopoil dot org.”
Since the Just Stop Oil campaign began on April 1st 2022, there have been over 2,000 arrests and 138 people have spent time in prison, many without trial. There are currently two Just Stop Oil and five Insulate Britain supporters in prison, serving sentences for actions taken with the campaign.
[Just Stop Oil] stand with these political prisoners, with the 1,800 victims of our broken criminal justice system imprisoned for over a year without trial and with the 1,700 murdered across the global south, for protecting all our lives. This is the moment for us to come together and resist the destruction of everything we love, something that is being imposed on us by a few, who only seek to enrich themselves.
In moments of emergency, we must be brave, we must stand for good over evil, life over death, right over wrong. We cannot stand by and watch while our rights and freedoms and everything we love is being destroyed. It’s time to pick a side. Either you are actively supporting civil resistance, fighting for life, or you are complicit with genocide.