Protesters gathered in Parliament Square before marching in solidarity with the 150 people imprisoned this year for participating in Just Stop Oil (JSO) actions. The event, according to JSO, aims to “celebrate the political prisoners who have taken a stand against our criminal government on the most serious issue humanity has ever faced: climate collapse.” Supporters gathered in Parliament Square at 12 p.m. before marching through Central London past the home office to New Scotland Yard, where a number of speeches will be delivered by former prisoners, friends and family of those currently imprisoned, and representatives from CND, Global Women’s Strike, Kill the Bill, Stop HS2, and Extinction Rebellion. “We will not sit by and watch while the government imprisons peaceful people for conspiring to care, while they take away all our rights and freedoms, while they continue to torch the climate,” said Indigo Rumblelow, a JSO spokesperson. The development of new oil and gas is the most heinous act of mass murder in human history. Those who back this criminal scheme are complicit in genocide. They will be the ones on trial in the coming years. “Our supporters understand what the government and the police do not.” Your laws and punishments are meaningless in the face of the impending collapse of our food supply, civil society, peace, and security. We are facing the loss of everything we cherish. We will continue to resist until the government announces a critical U-turn: the end of new fossil fuel licences in the UK.”
