Just Stop Oil supporters have blocked a key junction at Mansion House in London. They are demanding that the government halts all new oil and gas licences and consents. [1]
At 9 am this morning, 31 Just Stop Oil supporters walked onto Cannon St, Queen Victoria St and Garlick Hill near Mansion House tube station, and disrupted traffic by sitting in the road with banners. Some supporters have glued onto the tarmac and eight supporters have locked on to each other.
Tommy Burnett, 30, a taxi driver from Kendal said:
I’m taking action because the status quo needs to change; we cannot continue using fossil fuels when we know it is causing increasingly severe weather and making areas of the world uninhabitable. I’m in civil resistance because I believe people’s health, and the health of our planet, is more important than the wealth of a few.
The action follows the spraying of several car showrooms with orange paint and a roadblock in Piccadilly by Just Stop Oil supporters yesterday. [2]
Just Stop Oil continues to peacefully resist the government’s plans to licence over 100 new oil and gas projects by 2025, and its failure to fulfil its promise to help people with their skyrocketing energy bills. Policy failures that will force millions into poverty and facing a choice between heating, eating, or providing the basic essentials for themselves and their families.
Today’s roadblock follows three weeks of continuous civil resistance by supporters of Just Stop Oil during which the police have made over 600 arrests. Since the campaign began on April 1st, Just Stop Oil supporters have been arrested 1,900 times, with 7 supporters currently in prison.[3]
This 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.
We will not be intimidated by changes to the law, we will not be stopped by private injunctions sought to silence peaceful people. Our supporters understand that these are irrelevant when set against mass starvation, slaughter, the loss of our rights, freedoms and communities.
Stand with our supporters in prison, with the 1,700 murdered across the global south, for protecting all our lives. We will not die silently, it will be ordinary people, like you, your friends, colleagues and neighbours who do what our government cannot. It will take all of us. [4]
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
[1] 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. Just Stop Oil is a member of the A22 Network of civil resistance projects. Climate Emergency Fund is Just Stop Oil’s primary funder for recruitment, training, and capacity building.
[3] There are now 7 Just Stop Oil supporters in prison on remand or serving sentences for taking action to demand that the government halts new oil and gas licences. They are Joshua Smith, Louis McKechnie, Simon Milner-Edwards, Margaret Reid, Michelle Charlesworth, Morgan Trowland and Marcus Decker. Also in prison are Scott Breen for taking action against the Southampton to Heathrow pipeline and Elliott Cuciurean for taking action against HS2
[4] A recent report from Global Witness says that more than 1,700 people have died while trying to prevent mining, oil drilling or logging on their lands.
