Civil Resistance in 2023
It's life or death.
Time to pick a side.
Just Stop Oil exists to show people that this is not a matter of individual responsibility, that none of us can fix this by changing our own life, that it can only be fixed at the level of the system. The system has to change.
The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.
[This isn’t the right video, but let’s have one that clearly sets out the strategy.]
The context
It’s 2023. Our corrupt and failing government has no plan to help us face the record breaking heat waves, drought and crop failures that will result from the return of El Niño this year. Faced with an inevitable 1.5C of warming within two years, from April the government will licence over 100 new oil and gas projects in the North Sea.
With no plan to improve our resilience, the country is heading for societal collapse. After years of underfunding, public services are in crisis. Skyrocketing energy prices have produced queues at food banks and rising homelessness, while fossil fuel companies continue to rake in massive profits.
Polling suggests the Tories are heading for a landslide defeat in May local elections and at the next general election. This means ending new oil and gas will happen. Apart from the Tories, every political party at Westminster, together with the Welsh and Scottish Governments are opposed to new oil and gas, and polling shows it’s what the people want.
So what now? We are not going to sit and wait for a political crisis, we are going to create one. We will force the government to the negotiating table. They are doubling down on dissent, repressing workers rights to strike and everyone’s right to protest. But in the face of this repression, we will resist. We know that it is our Government that is genocidal and criminal. As they embark upon the new licensing round it is our duty to continue to act to JUST STOP OIL.
What we’ve done so far
Just Stop Oil is set up
A letter is sent to the Government saying that we would step into civil resistance if they refused to stop all new oil, gas and coal.
Read MoreFeb 14, 2022We start blocking oil terminals
Just Stop Oil blocks 10 critical oil facilities to demand an end to new oil and gas.
Read MoreApril 1, 2022We react to the record temperatures experienced across the UK
Just Stop Oil declares M25 a site of civil resistance after UK temperatures pass 40C.
Read MoreJuly 20, 202251 people choose jail
51 people deliberately choose to break an injunction not to protest outside Kingsbury Oil Terminal.
Read MoreSept 15, 2017Occupy Westminster
We focus on the capital, as the seat of power, blocking roads, blocking the QE11 Bridges, defusing petrol stations and attracting a huge amount of attention through cultural actions. This level of sustained action is unprecedented in this country.
Read MoreOct 1, 2022The M25 comes to a standstill
Just Stop Oil supporters occupy gantries on the M25 in multiple locations for five days straight. It makes news around the world and communicates the desperation we feel in the face of our Government’s genocidal policies.
Read MoreNov 07, 2022We issue a new ultimatum to Government
We invite the Government to stop its reckless and irresponsible policies to put so many lives st risk.
Read Morefeb 14, 2023We start a new action phase
Slow marches will be the core of this action phase. It’s still legal to walk slowly. We won’t bring thousands together in one march, have our day and go home. The thousands will be distributed across many small, slow marches. We won’t stop until we win. We can win. But not without you.
Read MoreAPR 24, 2023We can resist. we can win.
Summary
We are lucky enough to be alive in the small window of time where it is possible to change the course of history. We can determine whether to watch while humanity marches on towards civilisational collapse or whether we throw everything we’ve got at cultivating an unstoppable community of resistance.
After a relentless year of action to demand an end to new oil and gas, we are at boiling point. Our actions forced toxic oil and gas into public consciousness and posed a dilemma to the state. They have chosen to repress us further rather than meet our demand. But every action has an equal and opposite reaction. This year, in the face of repression, we will resist.
The focus of the first phase of our campaign is to create a backfire effect by using the tactics of political jiu-jitsu, where we can use the government’s force against them. This will mean continuing with slow marching and refusing to back down against their repression, forcing them to overreact and reveal their true colours.
The country is in crisis. Now is the moment we can force the government to the negotiating table. Increased repression of ordinary people engaged in nonviolent civil resistance will bring the public onside and help mobilise hundreds. We must be stoic.
Our strategy is one of attrition – day after day, week after week like an annoying mosquito buzzing around their heads. Our London slow marches will ramp up over time. Come and join the swarm. Slow marches are simple, replicable, and plain. As James O’Brien said on air, it might just be the ‘perfect way to protest.’
Alongside the slow marches, cultural actions will continue to create flashpoints, and call upon institutions to end their support for fossil fuels. They will create huge media and social media impact, and spread our demand globally. Creating this confrontation reduces the space for neutrality on new oil and gas and will force people to pick a side.
Our relentless actions will force the government to assert their position as pro-new oil and gas, but as the landscape changes around them, with banks, the political opposition, key institutions and cultural figures supporting an end to new oil and gas, their position becomes increasingly weak.
Triggered by the new oil licensing round, and after the predictable defeat at the May local elections, we will enter the second phase of the year where we will escalate our disruption to cause economic damage, bringing to a halt the economic system which is grinding our life support systems to a pulp. This disruption of business as usual will amplify our political voice, enabling us to stoke divisions between the pillars of power. Within this destabilised political crisis we create conditions where a win is possible.
Our aims
- Build our community and culture of civil resistance so that we have the resilience to resist and take effective action in the face of repression.
- Hold those complicit to account by calling the Government’s decision to licence new oil and gas genocidal.
- Expand the opposition against new oil and gas by forcing individuals and institutions to pick a side.
- Get a win within the UK and use this win to galvanise civil resistance groups in the A22 International network.
The plan is composed of four interlocking principles; attrition, nonviolent disruption, moral necessity and scalability.
- Attrition: Repetition is key to keeping the issue current, grinding the fuckers down and creating the conditions where the backfire effect is possible.
- Nonviolent disruption: Enables us to speak our truth to power and is the most effective way at bringing about change with the urgency and scale required by science. For us this means using public disruption to polarise public opinion and force everyone to pick a side.
- Moral necessity: Taking bold and courageous action which shows that we are meeting the scale of the crisis with proportionate action.
- Scalability: Embedding the potential to grow our size and impact in all of our structures and designs. From clear and accessible onboarding to modular, lightweight and low cost action designs and maintaining openness and transparency.
Attrition. Nonviolent disruption. Moral necessity. Scalability.
During our preparation, our interviews and in court will continue to assert ourselves as not guilty and continue to pressure the judiciary with the question: Do you want to serve a corrupt justice system that protects those who kill and prosecutes those who try to save life? When our supporters are in prison we will amplify their voice and their story of resistance. Whatever they throw at us, we won’t stop until we just stop oil .
It’s 2023 and the Government is committing mass murder. We are going to mobilise across the country like never before to build an unstoppable force of people who are prepared to face up to the truth and build a community strong enough to change the story of humanity.
2023 IS THE YEAR WE JUST STOP OIL!
And a little more detail…
People have the power.
Mobilisation
Last phase we achieved massive success with around 500 people. Our aim this year is to be 1000 people engaged in civil resistance to enable the big win. The key to this is building strong, deep and diverse communities across our 37 local groups in our 7 regions.
We will focus more on relationships and personal contact to help inspire new people and keep all our people engaged. This will include reaching out to friends and family and building our volunteer teams. The balance will shift towards more socials, training events and gatherings.
We will continue delivering the Our Responsibilities (ORATT) talk but we will put more emphasis on the moral imperative to act and less on the facts. See here for all info re mobilisation.
Another key difference this year will be the focus on encouraging new recruits into non-violence training as soon as possible. After the training, people will be asked to commit to coming down with their region for a week of low stakes action, or to do high stakes action training and action which could risk prison.
In 15-20 universities we are running campaigns with demands of the universities in an attempt to mobilise students on a scale we haven’t achieved before.
We will be continuing to join striking workers on the picket lines to show our solidarity and to build links across groups.
Action
Our action plan is based on three main elements:
- Slow marches: From the 24th of April, to coincide with the new oil licences being announced, we will return to London. Every week regional action teams will slow march in the capital, take a five week break and come back. We will start slowly with a few marches each day, ramping up over time until we have hundreds of marches causing mayhem all over the capital. Slow marches are legal – it is our right to march through the streets demanding an end to new oil and gas. Read more about slow marches here.
- Cultural and sporting actions: Throughout the Spring cultural actions will keep media interest high, including sports, music and art as well as dinners, drinks and parties. These will be used to put pressure on the pillars of power that support the fossil fuel economy and to tell them to pick a side.
- Serious disruption: Serious disruption actions will cause major economic damage to bring the government to the negotiation table. This is the year to go all in and get our demand met. Attend a stepping up resilience training to begin preperation.
Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.
Why it’s time to pick a side.
Media and Messaging
Our demand has not been met and the overarching message that fossil fuels are killing us therefore remains the same. So does the message that the disruption will end as soon as the government meets our demand. We will lean into our genocide / mass murder framing to describe the government’s licensing of new oil and gas.
We will also call out the institutions of the UK for their complicity in the government’s genocide project asking them to pick a side. Through press, spokes and social media we will directly call on the institutions of this country – the media, the justice system, the financial institutions – to end their support for fossil fuels.
We will expose the web of power and money that lies at the heart of our fossil fuelled economy and through social media will start to name the individuals who are responsible for perpetuating the stranglehold that fossil fuels have on our energy system, our economy and our politics.
Our media strategy will involve targeting more specialist press relevant to the different audiences we are addressing with our demand (e.g. finance, media and justice), with our mobilisation efforts (e.g. universities) and with our actions (e.g sports and culture).
We will continue to represent Just Stop Oil as a youth-led movement but we will broaden out the range of people we aim to recruit and train as spokes to represent more relatable professions (e.g. teachers, nurses etc) as well as people representing the audiences we are aiming to reach.
The reality of our situation is stark. But we cannot allow them to crush our spirit, our humour, our love and creativity. We will use social and local media to find occasions to lighten the mood with more humour and creativity and more openly celebrate our wins.
Relationships
We will continue to show our support for striking workers at the picket lines and build relationships with Trade Unions through meetings, motions and events, primarily at a local level.
The A22 network will continue to expand and grow into a web of successful resistance movements. We will learn from other groups and deepen our connection with the network.
Our actions will build on the momentum from the Extinction Rebellion coalition surrounding Parliment for ‘The Big One.’
We will continue to stay connected to other movements and organisations, but this year the focus will be on building the number of trained people within Just Stop Oil, as well as offering our training in nonviolent action to other organisations.
United we stand.
We ne£d h€lp.
Fundraising
We are ramping up our fundraising efforts this year with a new and dedicated team. Their role is to help ensure that we have a sustainable income complimented by a regular stream of “one-off” donations.
A big focus will be on encouraging everyone connected with Just Stop Oil to become regular donors as well as fundraisers in their own right through reaching out to family and friends. If everyone we know gave 1 hour of their wage each month that would go a long way to help us become financially sustainable.
We aim to leverage existing relationships with notables and high net worth individuals as well as reaching out to notables that have expressed support for our aims through social media.
Not Guilty
In addition to 10 people on remand at the present time, we have a large number of people going through the courts in the coming months as a result of actions taken in 2021 with Insulate Britain and in 2022 with Just Stop Oil.
In order to honour the sacrifices of those brave people and to give ourselves the best possible chance to be heard in court, our strategy remains to encourage people to assert themselves as not guilty and to self-represent at trial. We are not seeking to construct a legal argument but to tell the truth as an ordinary person. We aim to use this moment to highlight that the law is failing us in the face of an existential crisis and to call on the judiciary to do the right thing or be complicit in the greatest crime against humanity.
Reflecting on recent experiences with public nuisance trials in which people have been prevented from referring to the climate crisis in their defence, we aim to lay a trail of breadcrumbs with the CPS that could be entered as evidence. This will include pre-action testimonials and statements to police bodycams during arrest where we will succinctly state why our actions are necessary and proportionate.
In addition, there may be occasions where an early guilty plea will help to maximise media coverage closer to the time of the action. We will aim to identify such occasions prior to action.
That being said, experimentation with this strategy can have benefits, and people’s personal circumstances, or the profile of the action, may mean that they plead differently. What we know is that nothing is set in stone, the powers of the government and the judiciary are almost limitless and often go unchecked, so we are open for people to resist in a way that is real and authentic to them.
More info on the not guilty strategy here.
Guilty of caring.
Resilience to resist.
Support
Entering into resistance against our corrupt and genocidal government takes mental and physical energy. Standing up against such deeply entrenched systems of power requires resilience and persistence. To help people prepare for being in resistance and to support them through the full range of consequences, Just Stop Oil continues to be supported by the independent entity of the Climate Action Support Pathway [CASP].
Attending specific CASP offerings, as well as going to court in person to know what to expect is a necessary part of the pathway to action. Just Stop Oil will especially be signposting those taking action to the legal sessions, the self representation sessions and the preparing for prison sessions and checking that these steps are followed.
After action the support will continue, with CASP forming the backbone of that support with their expertise and knowledge. Those taking action must be aware that the full implications can never be known. Although support can be offered as much as possible, there are risks (and rewards) regarding the implications for those taking action. It is important to flag that for those falling into hardship, payments will be attempted to be provided, but they cannot be guaranteed.
Community
We are a community of civil resistance. We value the commitment of those who are willing to risk their assets and their liberty. We will build and maintain the community through actions in the regions, by holding socials, holding training, encouraging mobilisation and facilitating onboarding, and we will strive to be a diverse and inclusive resistance. Beekeepers will be assigned to local groups to establish direct links to supporters to maintain connections and build the community. Our Queens remain crucial to taking effective action and we will build spare capacity into this team.
As we move forward into turbulent times, we must remember the foundation and roots upon which we act. We act out of love in service to something bigger than ourselves to prevent harm. Our honesty is stronger than their corruption and lies. Our commitment to nonviolence is our strongest weapon. No matter what they threaten us with, we are accountable for our actions, we stand by our deeds, and we will take what they throw at us.
Supporting the community. We aim to support those in the community as much as possible, before, during and after actions. It is not easy stepping into resistance, but those in a similar mindset around you can ease this burden. The Resilience to Resist team plays a crucial role in this. Regions will be having in person days every quarter, these sessions will build on the online sessions that are already offered.
Read more from the Manifesto Here.
solidarity is strength.
There’s no time left to waste. The government and the fossil fuel industries are going to destroy everything we love and then they are going to take our lives, but we know how to stop them. We are not alone, together we are going to build a big, bold and fearless community of resistance that will have the power to make history. The future is ours, if we want it.
It's time to pick a side. Together we are stronger. Together we can Just Stop Oil.
