A new group of environmental activists is threatening “a major wave of popular mass action” in the autumn.
Just Stop Oil, the direct action environmental group that developed out of Extinction Rebellion, and Jeremy Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Project have joined forces to create a new coalition, We All Want to Just Stop Oil.
The group aims to create a coalition of environmentalist, trade union, left wing and civil society organisations and activists.
At its launch on Thursday June 16, We All Want to Just Stop Oil announced its first major action would be a “swarm march” in Central London on Saturday 23 July.
The organisers say this will involve “dozens of swarming groups of people, setting off from various meeting points, meandering into central London and bringing the city to a standstill.”
According to the organisers, the 23 July action is a taster of what’s to come, with a “major wave of popular mass action” planned in the autumn calling for government action on the cost of living and climate crisis. They claim that “ongoing organised peaceful civil disobedience – slow marches, sit downs, blockades, etc., week after week” is “how we will overcome entrenched power.”
Lawrence Leather, a spokesperson for Just Stop Oil, said: “It’s been over a year since Sir David King, the former UK chief scientific adviser warned the ‘next three to four years will determine the future of humanity”. But still the government refuses to do anything.
“As the climate breaks down, the cost of everything will rise. That’s why we want to bring together the broadest coalition we can, including the trade unions, Britain’s biggest social movement, around concrete demands that decarbonise and put money back in people’s pockets.
“We are encouraging everyone to step up now and join the movement. The politicians won’t save us. It’s on us to change history. Their time is up. Our time is now.”
Jeremy Corbyn, the founder of the Peace and Justice Project, said: “Movements are the motor of change in history. When we come together, we can transform the world. And we must because those in power – the fossil fuel giants, the billionaires and the governments they own – are picking our pockets and stealing our future.
“That’s the crisis. You can’t separate out the cost of living and climate crises. The whole system, which creates billionaires and starves hundreds of millions, is the crisis. It can’t be resolved, it must be overcome and transformed.”
Earlier this year Just Stop Oil protesters disrupted supplies to forecourts by blockading fuel terminals and damaged pumps at motorway service areas on the M25.
No comments yet