protest intolerance

Just Stop Oil continues to assert their right to march and protest

Spread the love
Just Stop Oil

Just Stop Oil supporters are now in their third week of marching in central London every day to demand an end to any new fossil fuel projects in the UK.

At 8 am, around 32 Just Stop Oil supporters began marching from Queen Victoria Street near Mansion House tube station. Just Stop Oil supporters have been marching in the capital, every day since the 24th of April. Police are on scene and currently threatening to impose conditions under the public order act (section 12) in a bid to stifle legitimate dissent. 

A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:

“The Public Order Bill and specifically Section 12 notices are being used to remove the British public’s right to peacefully oppose government policies that threaten the lives of hundreds of millions of people. Marching has been an integral means of bringing about social change for centuries, be it for those seeking universal suffrage, those seeking to gain equality, or those seeking to make transport accessible for disabled people.”  

The government continues to face criticism in the wake of the wrongful arrests of dozens of peaceful protestors during the coronation, including 19 Just Stop Oil supporters and two independent journalists. No Just Stop Oil supporters have been charged, but some have been released ‘under investigation’ meaning media organisations are unwilling to interview them.

Continue ReadingJust Stop Oil continues to assert their right to march and protest

Morning Star: The coronation crackdown signposts Britain’s authoritarian future in important respects

Spread the love
Image of Fascists Mussolini and Hitler
Image of Fascists Mussolini and Hitler

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/e/coronation-crackdown-signposts-britains-authoritarian-future-important-respects

THE crackdown on protesters against the coronation is a wake-up call to the dystopian reality of Britain’s repressive anti-protest laws.

Leader of the Republic campaign Graham Smith, who was arrested and held for 16 hours, is right to warn that “there is no longer a right to peaceful protest in the UK.”

Police chiefs who demur, saying that some protests went ahead and they had to factor in the “once-in-a-generation” nature of the coronation when assessing whether to shut them down, only underline that our right to protest now exists at their discretion.

Republic campaigners were arrested before their protest had even begun, while unloading Not My King placards from the back of a van.

…

Unless we confront the authoritarian and anti-democratic reality of British state power, our liberties will keep being taken from us.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/e/coronation-crackdown-signposts-britains-authoritarian-future-important-respects

Continue ReadingMorning Star: The coronation crackdown signposts Britain’s authoritarian future in important respects

ITV News | Coronation Arrests and Police Oppression | 6 May 2023 | Just Stop Oil

Spread the love

00.50am. https://www.itv.com/news/london/2023-05-06/animal-rights-activists-bemoan-met-police-arrests-miles-away-from-coronation

…

The Animal Rising activist group, who interrupted the Grand National earlier this year, alleged that 14 of its members were detained in the borough of Hackney, “several miles away from the coronation”.

In a statement, it said the arrests took place during “an all-day nonviolence training” workshop that had been “publically advertised”.

In a statement released later on Saturday evening, the Metropolitan Police said it arrested 14 people in East London “on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance”.

…

https://www.itv.com/news/london/2023-05-06/animal-rights-activists-bemoan-met-police-arrests-miles-away-from-coronation

Continue ReadingITV News | Coronation Arrests and Police Oppression | 6 May 2023 | Just Stop Oil

Just Stop Oil supporters pledge to continue in wake of 23 arrests for peacefully marching from Downing Street to Parliament.

Spread the love
Just Stop Oil protesting in London 6 December 2022.
Just Stop Oil protesting in London 6 December 2022.

Just Stop Oil are peacefully marching in defiance of new anti-protest legislation that came into effect yesterday. They state that they will immediately halt their campaign when the government makes a meaningful statement to end licensing and consents for any new fossil fuel projects in the UK.

From around 8:00 am, over 30 Just Stop Oil supporters began marching from Queen Victoria Street in the City of London. Just Stop Oil supporters have been slow marching in the capital every day since the 24th April.

Yesterday 23 Just Stop Oil supporters were arrested for peacefully marching from Downing Street to Parliament Square. The police were acting with new powers granted by the Home Office following the commencement of the ‘public order’ bill yesterday. This is the third piece of legislation in two years designed to silence legitimate dissent. The introduction of this bill has been described as ‘alarming’ by Amnesty International and ‘deeply troubling’ by the U.N High Commissioner for Human Rights. 

The home secretary has also used a controversial ‘statutory instrument’ to grant extra powers to the police, in a bid to ban ‘slow walking’ demonstrations. In doing so, the home secretary has evaded the usual democratic process, as these measures were previously rejected from the ‘public order’ bill by the House of Lords.

A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:

“Yesterday, 23 good people were arrested for peacefully marching between Downing Street and Parliament, in accordance with their fundamental human rights. Rights that are protected under international law. All legal avenues for dissent have now been banned by this illegitimate, criminal government. ”

“In licensing new fossil fuels, they are overseeing the destruction of our homes, livelihoods and food supply. This will lead to the collapse of ordered society. This is treason. Regardless of our divergent political beliefs, it is imperative the citizens of this country wake up to what is happening, and get onto the streets to resist. It is what our children and the next 10,000 generations demand of us. Any less is a betrayal of our loved ones and the hundreds of millions currently experiencing climate collapse around the world.”

Continue ReadingJust Stop Oil supporters pledge to continue in wake of 23 arrests for peacefully marching from Downing Street to Parliament.