just stop oil

My day with Just Stop Oil

Spread the love

I travelled to London on Monday to protest with Just Stop Oil (JSO). It was supposed to be the last day of their month of October actions and so it was my last opportunity to participate and show solidarity with them. I didn’t know at the time that JSO activists had targeted MI5, Bank of England and News Corp that day. They then had a 32nd day of action on the first of November that targeted Downing Street. I had wanted to join them from the start of October but simply wasn’t able to for weeks because of commitments involving an elderly person needing support.

I arrived at about 11.30, half an hour later than JSO’s meeting time. I was very pleased to find them near the Department of Defence opposite Downing Street. I was worried that I might not find them and would be wasting hours wandering around London until I could catch my booked coach back.

There were about 35 of us from all over the UK. Ages were from late teens and I would say about 70% like me fifty or over, some able to be there because they were retired and still fit. There were about three wearing Christian dog-collars. I recognised one from an image of him used on this blog before.

Image of a Just Stop Oil participant getting arrested at Kingsbury oil terminal.
A Just Stop Oil participant getting arrested at Kingsbury oil terminal. A JSO / Vladamir Morozov image.

I’m going to end this quickly because I’m suffering from a temporary health condition (Baker’s cysts) that causes a lot of pain. My reasoning is affected because of the pain and the painkillers that I’m taking.

JSO activists have no choice but to cause disruption. The climate crisis is a huge, real and immediate crisis.

JSO are very concerned with the safety of their participants. Marches are stewarded very well.

There is a choice to get arrested or not. JSO know the boundaries, how far they can push it until they are arrested. I was marching in the area around Parliament. Although there were arrests, those arrested were willing to be arrested.

Leafleting for JSO is challenging because you meet people who have a go at you.

JSO were not keen on letting me have the megaphone because they didn’t know me and didn’t know what I was going to say in the presence of many police officers.

There is a policy of getting out of the way of emergency vehicles despite what Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and others claim.

Just Stop Oil’s Phoebe Plummer who threw soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London.
The painting is undamaged because it was behind glass.

ed: Just Stop Oil’s demand is no NEW oil or gas.

Continue ReadingMy day with Just Stop Oil

Donate to Just Stop Oil here

Spread the love

I’ve just donated £10.00 to Just Stop Oil here using my full name, shame it’s not appearing ;)

ed: Dear oh dear, it seems to have broken …

later ed: I wonder if it’s my name – it’s [3/11/22 I did publish my full name here. I am totally willing to show that I support Just Stop Oil. I’ve removed my name because I’m concerned that it may affect search engine rankings for the whole blog.]

Continue ReadingDonate to Just Stop Oil here

Just Stop Oil attempt to get into Downing Street before pausing activism

Spread the love

[ed: O}n day 32 of their activism my friends ;) at Just Stop Oil attempted to scale the gates of Downing Street and blocked Whitehall to demand that the government halts all new oil and gas licences and consents.

At 11:20am yesterday, a group of Just Stop Oil supporters swarmed towards the entrance to Downing street on Whitehall and attempted to scale the gates. A further group sat down in the road with banners to block Whitehall.  Some glued themselves to the tarmac. 22 people were involved in the actions.

A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:

“Rishi Sunak is about to U-turn on attending COP27. We demand that he also U-turn on new oil and gas.  This genocidal policy will kill millions of people, while failing to address the worst cost of living crisis this country has ever seen.

“Its time for a serious windfall tax on big oil, without the get-out-of-jail-free tax credits that will encourage more oil and gas that we cannot afford. Vulnerable people will be freezing to death in their homes this winter, unable to afford a can of soup,  while his government refuses to tax the rich and the big energy companies that are profiting from our misery.

“We owe it to our young people to stop fossil fuels, we owe it to our workers to create a just transition to a zero carbon economy, we owe it to our old people to enable them to live with dignity. We are not prepared to stand by and watch while everything we love is destroyed. “

The action yesterday followed BP’s announcement of a bumper profit of £7bn for the last quarter alone, while it expects to pay only £700m in windfall tax on its North Sea operations for the whole year. It also announced that rather than reinvesting its profits in the transition to renewable energy as it claims or in reducing costs for customers, it is prioritising transfers to wealthy shareholders by spending $8.5bn so far this year on share buy backs. 

Yesterday’s action follow four weeks of continuous civil resistance by supporters of Just Stop Oil during which the police have made 678 arrests. Since the campaign began on April 1st, Just Stop Oil supporters have been arrested nearly 2,000 times, with 6 supporters currently in prison.

This week’s UN Report states that “Staying under 1.5C is no longer credible.” 

Going over 1.5C locks in the loss of the coral reefs, the loss of 25% of the world’s fish stocks, the destruction of hundreds of millions of livelihoods and millions of innocent lives.

Going over 1.5C means island nations going underwater and this is just the beginning.

Just Stop Oil will be pausing its campaign of civil resistance from yesterday. They say that they are giving time to those in the government who are in touch with reality to consider their responsibilities to this country at this time.

[This report is sourced mainly from Just Stop Oil press bulletins.]

Continue ReadingJust Stop Oil attempt to get into Downing Street before pausing activism

Thank you climate activists

Spread the love

Thanks to climate activist. Thank you Morgan and Marcus of Just Stop Oil.

Queen: We are the Champions for climate activists

Tory MPs and even Essex Police have taken to call climate activists selfish just recently. It’s totally ridiculous – how on Earth can they be selfish while risking prosecution and imprisonment? Those making these accusations are on the side of those destroying the climate for private profit. It’s them that are selfish of course, these assoles have no fekking idea.

Continue ReadingThank you climate activists

Just Stop Oil shut Dartford’s QE2 bridge

Spread the love

It appears that this news is censored by UK government, it is reported by very few news outlets in UK.

Two Just Stop Oil  supporters have climbed to the top of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge forcing police to close the bridge to demand that the government halts all new oil and gas licences and consents.

At approximately 5 am two climbers ascended the two 84m masts on the North side of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge forcing the police to stop traffic from entering the bridge. It is expected that the bridge will remain shut for at least 24 hours.

Morgan Trowland, 39, a bridge design engineer from London, said

“As a professional civil engineer, each year as I renew my registration, I commit to acting within our code of ethics, which requires me to safeguard human life and welfare and the environment. Our government has enacted suicidal laws to accelerate oil production: killing human life and destroying our environment. I can’t challenge this madness in my desk job, designing bridges, so I’m taking direct action, occupying the QE2 bridge until the government stops all new oil.”

Marcus, 33, a teacher from London said:

“Too many people in this country simply don’t know the scale and intensity of climate breakdown as the scientists describe it. The authorities are criminally failing to get this grim science communicated. During Covid the science was conveyed on a daily basis. Why isn’t the most existential threat that humanity has ever faced on the news every day? 

“Our political system is betraying the people of this country. More fossil fuel licenses means global genocide. Only direct action will now help to reach the social tipping point we so urgently need.” 

Today’s actions follow over two weeks of continuous disruption by supporters of Just Stop Oil in which they have experienced over 450 arrests. On Sunday, there were 14 arrests of Just Stop Oil supporters, who blocked Park Lane and sprayed an Aston Martin dealership with orange paint.  Since the campaign began on April 1st, Just Stop Oil supporters have been arrested over 1,700 times, with 5 currently in prison. 

Continue ReadingJust Stop Oil shut Dartford’s QE2 bridge