Just Stop Oil supporters are commencing their fifth week marching in central London every day, to demand an end to all new oil, gas and coal projects in the UK. [1]
At 8am, 46 supporters in three groups started marching on three major routes in East and West London, forcing traffic to a crawl. The A10 in East London and on Kensington Road and Cromwell Road in West London were affected. Police issued Public Order Act (Section 12) notices on all three teams by 9:30am, forcing them off the road. Three further marches are expected later this morning.
Just Stop Oil supporters have been marching every day since the 24th of April.
One of those taking action this morning, Geraldine Swift, 57, NHS consultant psychiatrist, from the Wirral, said:
“I am supporting Just Stop Oil because I feel so worried when I read the science around global warming and when I see the changes in the climate happening all around me. As a psychiatrist, I know how much mental health is affected by deprivation and social upheaval.”
“The climate crisis is causing societal breakdown: droughts and floods will increasingly cause crop failures and that means more and more people will be displaced. This will inevitably affect people’s physical and mental health. I want the UK government to take action now to stop new licences for oil, gas and coal. I want more investment in renewable energy. I want to live in a fairer, equitable society where people are supported to live healthy lives.”
Another of those taking action this morning, Bill White, 68, a priest from Macclesfield, said:
“The situation we’re in demands no new licences for oil, gas and coal. It’s not fair that others are suffering, indeed dying, because of our addiction to burning oil. The government hears the message of the oil industry loud and clear, now they need to hear the voices of ordinary people- my voice, your voice.”
“I believe we all must take peaceful action to demand change. For now this means slow marching in the road, promoting a national conversation. Do we want a future filled with death and destruction, or can we choose a better way? Come and join us next Saturday, at 12 noon in Parliament Square and help stop new oil, gas and coal for all our sakes.”
As Just Stop Oil supporters march in the UK, experts say wildfires in Alberta, West Canada, show no sign of slowing, with early data suggesting this wildfire season could be one of the worst on record. 782,000 hectares of land – 1.9 million American football fields or more than 3,000 square miles – have burned. By the 16th of May, 19,576 people had been forced to evacuate their homes. Since then, the number of evacuees has dropped to 10,523, though officials warn the wildfire season will likely stretch to Autumn. The 782,000 hectares that have already burned is nearly seven times higher than the five-year average for the same period. [2]
Since the Just Stop Oil campaign launched on 14th February 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 serving three year prison sentences for resisting new oil, gas and coal.
We stand with these political prisoners, with the 1,800 victims of the UK’s 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. Normal people must come together to resist this criminal government and hold them to account for their genocidal policies. [3][4]
Just Stop Oil is calling on everyone to get off the sidelines and join in civil resistance against new oil, gas and coal.
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 makes a meaningful statement halting new fossil fuel projects in the UK.
Join Just Stop Oil on a slow march at midday every Saturday, at Parliament Square until we win.
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.
[2]https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65638922
[3] 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/
[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. https://www.globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/deadly-decade-land-and-environmental-activists-killing-every-two-days/
