Just Stop Oil supporters gathered outside the North Warwickshire Borough Council offices in Atherston today to draw attention to the council’s waste of public money in bringing the Kingsbury injunction and to ask councillors to ditch the injunction. [1]
North Warwickshire Borough Council (NWBC) has spent a whopping £137,000 of public money on an entirely unnecessary injunction to prevent peaceful protest by Just Stop Oil supporters outside the Kingsbury Oil Terminal near Tamworth. The Council has recently applied to the High Court to finalise the injunction which will mean yet more taxpayers money being spent.[2]
The interim injunction, which was granted to North Warwickshire Borough Council (NWBC) on 14th April 2022, gives sweeping powers of arrest to the authorities and appears designed to help the state protect the profits of the oil industry by effectively outlawing any protest activity near the Kingsbury Terminal, the largest inland oil storage depot in the country.[3]
This injunction was totally unnecessary because one of the main operators on the site, Valero Energy, had already been granted a High Court injunction to prevent the terminal being blocked. [4]
Meanwhile, ordinary people who have a right to peaceful protest are being penalised. 159 ordinary people are named on the interim injunction and they may have to pay for NWBC’s legal costs in bringing the injunction even if they have never breached its terms. [5]
Breaching an injunction can lead to a contempt of court conviction, which is punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine and the seizure of assets. More than 50 Just Stop Oil supporters were sent to prison on one day in September 2022, after peacefully stopping traffic outside the Kingsbury Oil Terminal last year.[6]
Just stop Oil supporter, Xandra Gilchrist, 72, a retired Social Worker from Warwickshire said:
“I’ve lived in Warwickshire for 40 years and I’m appalled about this waste of money. If everyone knew about the huge amount of money being spent on this injunction, I’m sure the majority of people would be enraged. I certainly am.”
NWBC Councillor Steve Stuart said:
“There is a need to address the difficult issue of the climate emergency which will affect everyone on the planet to a level that we may not yet fully appreciate until it is too late.”
“The best way to stop disruptive protests on this matter is to address the concerns over climate change for the benefit of all who do not have a vested interest in the future of the oligarchs and oil companies.”
Just stop Oil supporter Paul Sheeky, 48, a call centre operator from London said:
“I just think it’s disgusting that the local council is using taxpayers’ money to help out a massive oil company that makes obscene profits. I’m sure there’s local services that really could have made a much better use of that money than just punishing protestors, who at the end of the day, just want a liveable future for us all.”
Dr Clare Walters, 66, a grandmother, councillor and CEO said:
“Why am I and other peaceful protestors being punished by NWBC? It seems like a waste of our council tax money. Let the oil companies pay for their own security measures.”
Just Stop Oil supporter, Karen Wildin said:
“Why would NWB councillors agree to spend local taxes on trying to stop protestors from standing up for human survival? Look at the floods happening everywhere! We can all see that climate collapse is real. We need to all be onside together for everybody’s sake!”
Jeannie Donald-McKim, 59, Special Needs teacher said:
“Local people need to be aware of what their taxes are being used for – a cynical ploy by fossil fuel companies to further curtail any voices of dissent while they destroy our liveable future. But why did NWBC agree to be their puppets?”
Meanwhile, Prime minister Rishi Sunak has been hatching a U-turn on the climate that has left other countries and green experts aghast. It is no longer possible to ignore the accelerating climate emergency after a summer of devastating wildfires and catastrophic floods around the world. [5] [6] [7]
The government plans to licence over 100 new oil and gas projects despite mounting evidence that this will impose unimaginable suffering and destroy the lives and livelihoods of billions of people. New oil and gas will push the world past irreversible tipping points, destroy our ability to grow food and risk the collapse of human civilization. Everything we know and love is threatened. To pursue new oil and gas, in full knowledge of these consequences, isn’t just a crime against humanity. It is the greatest crime in human history.
We will not let this stand. We refuse to die quietly. Civil resistance is no longer an option, it is a necessity. In late October, thousands of people will join Just Stop Oil in London to march on the roads, and we will not stop until we win. Sign up for action here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/take-action-with-just-stop-oil/”
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] FOI request from Clive Tobin, N Warks in house solicitor.
[3] https://www.northwarks.gov.uk/news/article/864/just_stop_oil_-_high_court_injunction_granted
[4] Just Stop Oil: Valero Energy granted injunction restricting protests – BBC News
[6] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/16/more-than-50-just-stop-oil-protesters-in-uk-sent-to-jail-on-one-day
[7] UK absent from key international statement on climate action (msn.com)
[8] Libya floods: Entire neighbourhoods dragged into the sea – BBC News
[9] What caused the Hawaii wildfires? – BBC News
[10] Councillor Steven Stuart | Water Orton Ward | Independent Party | North Warwickshire (northwarks.gov.uk)
Councillor Steve Stuart contact details: [email protected]
