Supporters of Just Stop Oil have blocked one entrance to Downing Street today on the twelfth day of action during October. They are demanding that the government halts all new oil and gas licences and consents. [1]
At 10:45am, 9 Just Stop Oil supporters established a roadblock on the Horseguards Road entrance to Downing street by sitting in the road with banners and gluing themselves to the tarmac.
Lee Matthews, 22, a student from Aberdeen said
“I’m taking action today because the UK government is not only complicit in the climate crisis but actively choosing profit over human life.I cannot stand by and watch my younger sisters’ futures be destroyed. I have to take action. Civil resistence is my only viable choice at this time, we need systematic change and an end to all new fossil fuels.”
A spokesperson for Just Stop Oil said:
“Liz Truss and Suella Braverman have called our actions ‘unacceptable’. We agree, people are right to be irritated, frustrated and angry at the disruption being caused. It’s miserable, this is not the country we want to live in. The government has the power to end this today by agreeing to stop new oil and gas licences and consents.
“This government’s failure to act on the climate and cost of living crisis – both fuelled by our continued reliance on oil and gas- is threatening millions of families with hunger and misery this winter and starvation in the years to come. As drought, crop failures and extreme heat events multiply across the world, we face famine, food riots and ultimately the collapse of ordered society. “
Today’s actions follow eleven days of continuous disruption by supporters of Just Stop Oil in which they have experienced over 337 arrests. On Tuesday, 28 people were arrested after Just Stop Oil supporters blocked Knightsbridge and Brompton Road. Since the campaign began on April 1st, Just Stop Oil supporters have been arrested over 1,600 times.[2]
This is not a one day event, this is an act of resistance against a criminal government and their genocidal death project. Our supporters will be returning – today, tomorrow and the next day – and the next day after that – and every day until our demand is met: no new oil and gas in the UK.
We will not be intimidated by changes to the law, we will not be stopped by private injunctions sought to silence peaceful people. Our supporters understand that these are irrelevant when set against mass starvation, slaughter, the loss of our rights, freedoms and communities.
Stand with our supporters in prison, with the 1700 murdered across the global south, for protecting our futures. We will not die silently, it will be ordinary people, like you, your friends, colleagues and neighbours who do what our government cannot. It will take all of us.
ENDS
Press contact: 07762 987334
Press email: [email protected]
High quality images & video here: https://juststopoil.org/press-media
Website: https://juststopoil.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JustStopOil/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/just.stopoil/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JustStop_Oil
Youtube: https://juststopoil.org/youtube
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. More information here: https://juststopoil.org/
[2] There are now 5 Just Stop Oil supporters in prison on remand or serving sentences for taking action to demand that the government halts new oil and gas licences. They are Simon Milner-Edwards, Margaret Reid, Michelle Charlesworth, Joshua Smith and Louis McKechnie. Also in prison are Madelaine Budd for the ‘Captain Tom’ action, Scott Breen for taking action against the Southampton to Heathrow pipeline and Elliott Cuciurean for taking action against HS2.
