Why would Just Stop Oil march with farmers?

We decided to join the farmer’s protest in Whitehall on Tuesday to try to open a dialogue with our farmers. Real farmers, and farm workers, not those investors who have jumped on a tax loophole and are now upset that it’s being taken away. 

We need farmers to grow our food at a price people can afford – in this and every country. But we also need them to help with nature restoration, managing water quality and looking after our natural carbon sinks, all while being ripped off by the major supermarkets and undercut by cheap imports. It’s a lot to ask for, and many farmers are upset, not by the changes to inheritance tax, but by the reduction of government support payments to help them transition towards more sustainable agriculture.

On top of that, this year, as a result of the extreme rainfall, farmers had the worst harvest since World War 2 and conditions are only going to get more difficult. This is the underlying issue that we wanted to highlight – food security. In this country it’s probably the most pressing and immediate climate threat to large numbers of people, and as we know, that is not being made clear in the media.

It was uncomfortable being there, knowing you’re in the company of Priti Patel and Reform, but we should not just cede the ground to the far-right. It’s important that people are present at these events, connecting these issues to the bigger picture.

This action was uncomfortable, like most of our actions, and it was taken because we cannot afford to only speak within our own bubble. We need to be unexpected and to point out that ending the harm caused by the continued burning of oil and gas is everyone’s gig. As we said in the press release, it is everyone’s inheritance.