Around 20 supporters of Just Stop Oil have been arrested for wearing Just Stop Oil t-shirts at the coronation. Just Stop Oil is demanding no new licences or consents for any fossil fuel projects in the UK. [1]
At around 9:30am, during this morning’s coronation celebrations, around 20 supporters were arrested wearing Just Stop Oil t-shirts. No disruptive action was planned, the supporters were not intending to jump the barrier, merely reveal their t-shirts and hold flags emblazoned with ‘Just Stop Oil.’
This morning also saw the arrests of members of the group Republic, who campaign for an elected head of state to replace the monarch, who were arrested for wearing yellow t-shirts that featured the slogan ‘not my king.’
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:
“What a dystopian nightmare this country has become. While we gather to celebrate putting a billionaire in a sparkly hat; this week the government enacted draconian legislation effectively banning legitimate dissent in this country. As this morning’s events demonstrate, we are living in an authoritarian police state.”
“As the world looks on in horror, the government brings in laws that would make a dictator blush. The British people’s fundamental democratic right to march and make our voices heard, has been stripped from us. This affects every one of us, regardless of our political persuasion.”
“Our government is signing the death warrants of hundreds of millions. Our democracy has been stolen by a corrupt, criminal cabal and if the local election results are anything to go by, the people of this country have had enough. Our government has been bought by the fossil fuel lobby and now they’re busy funnelling taxpayers’ money into companies that are making record profits and jailing anyone with the temerity to complain about it.”
One of those arrested, Kush Naker, 33, a doctor of infectious diseases, from London, said:
“As a doctor I cannot stand by and watch as the government is taking action that is harming the health of my patients. We know new oil and gas is a death sentence to millions of people around the world, including here in the UK, and that is why I am demanding that they stop it.”
“The government is bringing in new laws cracking down on our rights to peaceful protest. They say this is to protect the British public, but we know that is a lie. If they cared about the British public they would end all new oil and gas. I never thought in my life that I would be terrified that the police might arrest me for protesting peacefully in the UK. But that is now the state we are in.”
It was recently reported that the Conservatives received £3.5 million from polluters, fossil fuel interests and climate deniers during 2022. Meanwhile BP have just announced first quarter profits of $5 billion in the first three months of the year, outstripping analysts’ forecasts of $4.3bn. It’s competitor Shell has been accused of a “profiteering bonanza” after it made record first-quarter profits of more than $9.6bn. [2][3][4]
Just Stop Oil supporters have been slow marching in the capital every day since the 24th of April.
Since the Just Stop Oil campaign began on April 1st 2022, there have been over 2,100 arrests and 138 people have spent time in prison, many without trial. There are currently two Just Stop Oil supporters and four Insulate Britain supporters serving prison sentences for resisting new oil, gas and coal.
We 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 care about, something that is being imposed on us by a few, who only seek to enrich themselves. [5][6]
In moments of emergency, we must stand up and be brave, we must stand up for good over evil, life over death, right over wrong. Just Stop Oil is calling on everyone to pick a side. We need everyone to get off the sidelines and join in civil resistance against new oil and gas.
The time is now. Join us and slow march while you still can. Our indefinite campaign of civil resistance is underway and will not end until our government ends new oil, gas and coal.
Join Just Stop Oil on a slow march at midday every Saturday, at Parliament Square until we win. [7]
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.
Just Stop Oil ‘Blue Lights’ policy: our policy is, and has always been, to move out of the way for emergency vehicles with siren sounding and ‘blue lights’ on.
[3]https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/04/shell-makes-record-quarterly-profits-of-nearly-10bn
[4] https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/02/bp-profits-energy-windfall-tax-oil-gas
[5] Fair Trials reports that the number of people being held in prison without trial in England and Wales is at its highest for over 50 years, with 1,800 people in prison without trial for at least a year. https://www.fairtrials.org/articles/news/highest-number-of-people-on-remand-in-england-and-wales-for-over-50-years/
[6] 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. https://www.globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/deadly-decade-land-and-environmental-activists-killing-every-two-days/
[7] Excluding May 6th.
