Once again London faced disruption, as around 20 people stepped out on Upper Street in Islington and stopped traffic in both directions, some gluing to the road, others using lock-ons. Despite the tailbacks that ensued, we witnessed a fire engine being allowed through, in accordance with the group’s emergency vehicle policy.
We interviewed Andrew, who has worked for twenty years as a sustainability consultant trying to promote necessary change through the usual channels, and Pia, who has lived in the UK for eleven years with a corporate career which she gave up at the end of September in order to spend time fighting for change through civil resistance. Both were arrested along with the others, and the road was eventually cleared after around 90 minutes.
Unlike on some previous occasions, there was no violence against the protesters, and among the large crowd that formed there was a wide variety of opinions, with a fair amount of engagement and some support.
Saturday was the 22nd day of action by Just Stop Oil, who are demanding the government reverse their recent decision to grant more than 100 new gas and oil exploration licences in the face of international calls for a rapid transition away from fossil fuels and warnings of irreversible global heating.
