Just Stop Oil supporters have today covered the Silver Fin building, Headquarters of Barclays Bank in Aberdeen in orange paint. [1]
At 12 noon today Just Stop Oil supporters covered the Aberdeen HQ of the bank, the Silver Fin building in paint. This is part of a national day of action by Extinction Rebellion aimed at Barclays with over 100 of the banks’ offices and branches targetted with paint, posters, fake oil and crime scene tape. [2]
Lee Matthews (they/them), 22, a student in politics and international relations at the University of Aberdeen said:
“Today I threw paint over the Silver Fin building containing the Barclays office because if my generation are to have a future we must use nonviolent direct action to stop the destructive activities we’ve seen from companies like Barclays. Communities around the world, particularly in the global south, are already paying the price for what the fossil fuel industry is doing. Continuing to invest in fossil fuels is abhorrent and we must do everything in our power to stop them from doing so.”
The action takes place on the heels of Lloyds Bank announcing they would no longer invest in new oil and gas projects.[3]
Last week supporters of Just Stop Oil climbed gantries on the M25 and disrupted traffic on the M25 on four consecutive days at multiple locations. The biggest act of civil resistance undertaken in the UK in a generation.[4]
Today’s action follows six weeks of disruption and civil resistance by supporters of Just Stop Oil during which the police have made over 700 arrests. Since the campaign began on April 1st, Just Stop Oil supporters have been arrested over 2,000 times, with 35 supporters currently in prison.[5]
These actions are part of an ongoing 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 nonviolent 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. [6]
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.
[2] XR press release here: https://us20.campaign-archive.com/?e=[UNIQID]&u=7ad561f97201fca26e8527337&id=624c818d26
[3] https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/uks-lloyds-ditches-project-finance-new-oil-gas-fields-2022-10-20/
[4] https://juststopoil.org/2022/11/09/just-stop-oil-supporters-return-for-a-third-day-stopping-traffic-on-the-m25-in-multiple-locations/
[5]
[4] There are now 35 Just Stop Oil supporters in prison on remand or serving sentances for taking action to demand that the government halts new oil and gas licences. They include Adelheid Russenberger, Alfie Beswick, Lucia De Abreu Whittaker, Alexander Wilcox, Callum Goode, Catherine Rennie-Nash, Christopher Ford, Christopher White, Daniel Shaw, David Mann, Diana Hekt, Ian Bates, Isobel Rock, Karin Matthews, Roger Hallam, Tim Hewes, Jan Goodey, Jesse Prince, Joseph Lineheart, Louise Harris, Mair Bain, Michael Dunk, Molly Berry, Nick Onley, Niculina Tirpoca, Paul Bell, Paul Bleach, Phoebe Plummer, Rachel Payne, Joshua Smith, Louis McKechnie, Michelle Charlesworth, Morgan Trowland and Marcus Decker.
There are also 3 Belgian supporters of Just Stop Oil currently in a Dutch prison for gluing to a painting and Elliott Cuciurean is also in prison for taking action against HS2.
[5] 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.
