This is without doubt the most important moment in UK history. All time temperature records are being obliterated, thousands of people are expected to die from heatstroke and the liars and plotters who are vying to lead us are too busy fighting among themselves to even care. This is the moment when climate inaction is truly revealed in all its murderous glory for everyone to see: as an elite driven death project that will extinguish all life if we let it.
The criminals that have our democracy by the throat are currently overseeing the destruction of everything that is needed for society and the state to function. By continuing to allow and expand fossil fuel production they are sealing our fate. Europe will see heat waves surpassing 50oC in the near future and these will become more and more common. The Middle East and North Africa face 60oC heatwaves lasting months. It is clear that our society will collapse within the next two decades. Allowing this to happen is a crime without parallel in our history. It is the ultimate betrayal of the next generation. It is an act of mass genocide against billions of the poorest people in the poorest countries on earth. It is treason – plain and simple.[1][2]
As citizens, as humans, as sons and daughters and mothers and fathers we have every right under British law to protect ourselves and those we love. We will not stand by, we will do what is necessary. We will resist.
We are therefore declaring the M25 a site of civil resistance against our criminal government. We ask that no one travels on this motorway from Wednesday to Friday this week as we will be blocking the highway. We fully acknowledge the cost and disruption this will cause to the public and ask that they take their demands for compensation to the government which has caused this unprecedented threat to our lives and liberties.
We have a clear demand: that the UK government makes a statement that it will immediately halt all future licensing and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK. This is the necessary first step to ensuring a liveable future. The UK government’s failure to take that step is a criminal dereliction of its fundamental duty: to protect and safeguard the lives of its citizens.
We are working in coalition with other groups to escalate civil resistance to force a government response. We are all in this together and we have all been betrayed. We need everyone now, to step up and take action. Join us on 23rd July for a march and sit down in Westminster along with thousands of ordinary people from the progressive labour movement, faith communities, charities, social institutions and environmental groups to help create mass civil resistance with We All Want to Just Stop Oil.
Every person counts, every person can take us one step closer to winning the fight of our lives. Join a weekly Zoom call, Tuesdays at 7pm. Register here: https://juststopoil.org/zoom/
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
[1] https://blog.metoffice.gov.uk/2021/08/12/europe-needs-to-prepare-for-temperatures-of-50c-in-future/
[2] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/8/climate-hotspot-what-60c-means-for-the-middle-east
About Just Stop Oil
Just Stop Oil is a coalition of groups working together to demand that the government immediately halt all future licensing and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK.
We must urgently end our reliance on fossil fuels to avoid irreversible changes in the earth’s climate system. We cannot continue to burn fossil fuels in the belief that future developments in carbon capture and storage and other so-called “unicorn technologies” will allow us to suck vast quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The UK must begin this process immediately. It starts by calling a halt to any further fossil fuel projects on the UK Continental Shelf. That would give us eight years of fossil fuel production left in which to rapidly transition to a zero carbon economy.
Everyone knows we have to engage in massive changes. Just Stop Oil is a coalition of groups demanding the no-brainer things be done immediately – actions that will reduce the demand for fossil fuel energy dramatically such as insulating our homes, rethinking how we travel, getting on with renewable energy and making sure no-one is left behind.
We either come together as humanity or we die. Youth know which they choose. They have already chosen. They are in the streets to demand a future. We are all in the streets to make sure they get it. It’s as basic as that.
Further information about Just Stop Oil and our demands here: https://www.juststopoil.org
