A group of local Just Stop Oil supporters took to the roads in Tunbridge Wells on November 4 to demand the UK Government halts all new oil and gas projects.
Just Stop Oil is part of an international network aiming to stop climate change using ‘non-violent civil resistance’. It has carried out a number of high-profile protests, including blocking the M25 on several occasions, stopping play at sports matches, including the second Ashes Test and halting theatre productions such as Les Misérables.
Just Stop Oil says ‘[we are] ordinary people demanding the UK Government immediately halt all new oil and gas consents and licences’.
Eleven members of the local branch of the organisation slow-marched through Tunbridge Wells on Saturday morning for almost two hours.
Rosie Moran, 65, a grandmother and retired social worker from Tunbridge Wells who was marching said: “I am doing this for the future of my children, grandchildren and all the children of the world. I don’t know what else to do. The top paediatrician in England has said that the climate crisis is putting the health and wellbeing of all children in danger. We can no longer afford to put our heads in the sand. If you care about your children please act now.”
Also marching was Alison Seddon, 59, a full-time charity worker and mum of two from Tunbridge Wells, who said: “This is the first time I have joined a slow march and it feels great. I’m taking action for my children, because the future we face as a result of burning fossil fuels is too terrifying to just carry on with life as usual.
“When will our leaders, in government and business, have the courage to call for and lead the change we urgently need to avoid absolute disaster?”
Two Just Stop Oil activists were arrested on Monday morning, November 6, at the National Gallery in London for damaging the glass protecting Velázquez’s The Rokeby Venus
with hammers.
A spokesperson for the Gallery said: “The painting has been removed from display so it can be examined by Conservators.”
