‘It’s like Groundhog Day’: what prison is like for young climate activists
We speak to three Just Stop Oil activists who have spent time in jail as a result of their climate activism
Most people spend their 21st surrounded by friends, family, and loved ones. Usually, there are presents, balloons, a cake festooned with a ring of striped wax candles. Maybe a bottle of champagne too, if you’re lucky. But last year, Louis McKechnie spent his 21st birthday alone in a prison cell – and celebrated his 22nd the same way this year, too.
“I didn’t expect to spend this birthday in prison, but I’m comfortable enough,” he said in a statement published on the Just Stop Oil website on his birthday in November 2022. “No matter what the state takes from me, I’ll be glad to have given it to increase my generation’s odds of survival.” Louis, 22, is a Just Stop Oil activist. He’s been incarcerated in HMP Wandsworth since July, following his protest at Silverstone in the summer, and will remain there until next year. He’ll miss Christmas this year too – again, just like he did last year.
When it comes to climate protests, most of the time, we only see one half of the story: activists launching soup at a painting or glueing themselves to a motorway, before being swiftly whisked away in handcuffs by police in high-vis jackets. We rarely pause to think about what happens to these activists after they’ve been arrested and what they sacrifice in the process.
We spoke to three Just Stop Oil activists – McKechnie (via his father), Jesse Prince, who spent eight days in HMP Lewes, and Louise Harris, who has recently been released on bail from HMP Bronzefield – about what it’s really like to have a brush with the law as a climate activist.
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Go to article: https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/57619/1/young-climate-activists-prison-experience-just-stop-oil
Just Stop Oil disrupt traffic in North London calling for U-turn on coal decision
Just Stop Oil have disrupted traffic on key routes in London today to demand that the government halts all new fossil fuel licences and consents and reverses last week’s disastrous decision to permit a new coal mine in Cumbria.
Just Stop Oil activists wearing hi-vis vests disrupted traffic at Green Lanes, Finsbury Park and proceeded to march slowly northwards accompanied by around 7 police officers at 8am this morning.
Sheila Shatford, 67, grandmother of two and former nurse from Bristol, who has already spent 13 days in prison for taking action with Just Stop Oil, said:
“As a baby boomer I have a responsibility and a need to stand beside all the brave young people who are prepared to put their careers and freedom on the line in order to stop the wanton destruction of their future and the misery and suffering happening right now as a result of climate breakdown.
“Shame on you Mr Sunak, for allowing your government to support oil and gas expansion, shame on you for allowing a new coal mine that nobody wants or needs. Shame on you for demonising peaceful people. You can ban us, revile us, lock us up but you won’t stop us. We will not be complicit in the destruction of everything we hold dear.”
Peter Smith, 30, from Harringey, London said:
“The stark reality is terrifying. If we continue down the road we are currently on we don’t have a future. We face starvation and misery and the loss of all we hold dear. Normal people need to take a stand and support Just Stop Oil in stopping new fossil fuel licences and moving towards a sustainable future.”
Ludi Simpson, 69, a retired planner from Shipley, Yorkshire said:
“The UN general secretary says that spending on new fossil fuel exploration is delusional. Our government is doing just that and I fear for my children’s future. My action is from the heart and the head. I know politicians can do the right thing if they listen to the facts. Their inaction is burning up our lives. I want us all to have lives we can be proud of. Is it too much to ask for a safe future? Governments must end the greed of oil companies which is immoral and killing us.”
Just Stop Oil activists disrupt traffic calling for U-turn on coal decision
Just Stop Oil supporters have disrupted traffic on key routes in Central London today to demand that the government halts all new oil and gas licences and consents and reverses yesterday’s decision on a new coal mine.
15 Just Stop Oil supporters wearing hi-vis vests walked onto Whitechapel Road, East London at 8.15am and proceeded to march slowly east and then west causing delays to traffic. The march continued onto Commercial Road.
Sophie Holland, 51, a mum of three and NHS speech therapist from Bristol said:
“My concern for the future of everything has reached the point it seems reasonable, responsible even, to be in the streets demanding change. Why is our government not listening to Sir David King, Sir David Attenborough, the many 1000’s of scientists and the UN Secretary General who can’t make it any clearer: either we change, or we perish. Still the government plans for more oil, gas and now coal. They are killing us, our natural world, our children’s futures.
“I work with people with severe asthma and long Covid, who struggle to breathe. Air pollution will get worse, as will fires, floods, hunger. It is beyond contention. A liveable future is possible, but only if we stop new oil and gas. I’m terrified. I want my children to die of old age. What I can’t understand is why isn’t everyone on the streets, shouting for change?
Teresa Garlake, 59, a former teacher and mother of 2 young adults from Oxford said:
“As a teacher I worked to help children believe in themselves and their power to be good citizens. What future do they have now? Our government knows full well that allowing the extraction of new oil and gas resources in the UK will destroy everything we hold dear. Yet it continues to subsidise the fossil fuel industries with billions of pounds every year.
“I don’t want to be here causing disruption, but the fact is that the real disruption is being caused by a government that continues to support a fossil fuel industry that is bringing about an unliveable future. Morally, who are the criminals? We are here to do all we can to bring about a future for all children. We can’t have that unless we stop all new oil and gas”
The action follows yesterday’s announcement by the government that it has given the greenlight to the UK’s first new coalmine in 30 years at Whitehaven in Cumbria.
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said “The government has just ripped up any pretense of global climate leadership and signed the death warrant for millions of people and for what? Coal that no British company wants or needs, whose credentials rest on dangerous lies about jobs and carbon capture and storage.
“Their toxic plans will lead to social collapse and the destruction of everything we hold dear. This cannot stand. We need everyone out on the streets now to take back what is rightfully ours: the chance of a livable future.”
12 Just Stop Oil activists in court for M25 gantry actions today
12 Just Stop Oil activists are appearing in court today to face charges associated with causing disruption on the M25 in November to put pressure on the government to halt all new oil and gas licences and consents.
This week sees the continuation of court hearings for the Just Stop Oil supporters arrested as part of the four days of action on the M25 during November. A total of 12 supporters including 5 currently on remand are appearing at Southwark Crown Court today from 11:30am in 4 separate hearings in connection with actions taken on 8th November.
Among those appearing in court today is Jane Touil, 56, a former public sector worker from Rochdale. She is partially sighted and was wrongfully imprisoned for 4 days in November after having been released on bail by a magistrate. Jane said:
“I feel morally compelled to act. I cannot stand by and do nothing while the government knowingly pursues genocidal policies. There can be no new oil and gas if we want a liveable future. Licensing new oil and gas amounts to mass murder. I urge everyone who wants a liveable climate to support Just Stop Oil.”
George Cattell, 22, from Leeds said:
“Ordinary people are in absolute misery this winter, sitting in darkness and freezing as the government continues to prioritise the profits of fossil fuel companies that are torching the climate. Even during my relatively short life I have seen the climate crisis get much worse and still emissions are increasing. Licensing over 100 new oil and gas projects in the North Sea is criminal. I couldn’t sit by and watch anymore so I stepped up into civil resistance. I stand by my actions. I have no regrets and I’m prepared to go to prison if that’s what it takes to force our government to change.”
Amber Robards, 21, an environmental student from Bristol said:
“I’m terrified for the future. I couldn’t hide from the truth or carry on life as normal any longer. It is unbearable to just stand by and watch as the government commits genocide against vulnerable people across the world. My generation has been put in an impossible position.
“I stepped up to take action with Just Stop Oil to put pressure on the government to stop new oil and gas projects and I am prepared to face the consequences. They would rather lock us all up than prevent societal collapse by ending new oil and gas. But you can’t imprison a flood, you can’t put a heatwave in the dock, you can’t fine a wildfire.”
Six weeks of continuous disruption and civil resistance by supporters of Just Stop Oil during October and November resulted in over 700 arrests. Since the campaign began on April 1st, Just Stop Oil supporters have been arrested over 2,000 times, with 25 supporters currently in prison.
Just Stop Oil continues to peacefully resist the government’s plans to licence over 100 new oil and gas projects by 2025, and its failure to fulfil its promise to help people with their skyrocketing energy bills.