Just Stop Oil supporters have disrupted Tory MP, Mark Jenkinson. They are demanding the UK government end all new oil, gas and coal projects licensed after 2021, and make a plan to stop oil use by 2030. [1]
At around 11:45 a group of around ten Just Stop Oil supporters gathered outside Jenkinson’s office holding signs, some of which read: ‘The Future is Not in Coal or Tory Lies’, and ‘Don’t Listen to Jenkinson, Listen to the Science’. The supporters fastened a list of Mark Jenkinson’s crimes to his office windows which were swiftly removed by a staff member. Mark Jenkinson however refused to speak with the constituents.
Jenkinson has been a vocal supporter of the Cumbrian Coal mine which received government approval in 2022. The government’s own climate adviser Lord Deben has described the project as “indefensible” warning that its approval would damage the UK’s leadership on the climate crisis, and “create another example of Britain saying one thing and doing another”. [2]
One of those taking action today is Fiona Atkinson, 68, a retired teacher from Kendal, who said:
“As a grandma I feel for all the parents and grandparents in Cumbria who don’t want this mine on their doorstep because they know the last thing any of us need right now is more filthy fossil fuels. Burning them kills eight million people a year and adds to the carbon that’s overheating our only home.
Mark Jenkinson refuses to deal with the reality of climate breakdown even though it’s clearly happening everywhere including right here in Cumbria. A new coal mine is a crime against humanity and going all out for it makes him a climate criminal. As an MP he is required to act in the public interest – it’s time for him to realise that means no new coal.”
Another taking action today is Margaret Reid, 53, a retail worker from Kendal, who said:
“Mark Jenkinson is a climate criminal and climate crisis denier right here on our own doorstep in Cumbria. He’s consistently pursuing climate-wrecking policies which will bring misery to the very local communities that he’s meant to protect.
I just can’t listen to his lies and bluster any longer – and we simply can’t afford to keep listening to people like him either, with climate breakdown happening all around us right now. It’s time to call him out on the consequences of his actions. We’re the sane ones here – he’s the dangerous extremist.”
Chris McDonald, chief executive of the Materials Processing Institute, which serves as the UK’s national centre for steel research, said there was no demand from his industry for the West Cumbria mine. Stating “There isn’t anyone in the steel industry who’s calling for the mine”, he warned that “British Steel have said they cannot use the coal from this mine because the sulphur levels are too high.” [3]
The government’s advisory Climate Change Committee (UKCCC) points out that 85% of the coal produced in Whitehaven is likely to be exported.
As the world passes tipping points that threaten the breakdown of ordered civilization, world leaders, captured by the interests of oil lobbyists and big business, are failing to protect our communities. British citizens are sick of being led by liars and crooks. Until we stop Tory oil, gas and coal, supporters of Just Stop Oil will continue taking proportionate action to demand necessary change. Sign up for action at juststopoil.org.
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.
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.
