Just Stop Oil to march ‘every weekday’ as traffic blocked in central London

Supporters of Just Stop Oil blocked traffic on Monday morning (April 24) by marching slowly on major roads.

At 7am, more than 160 activists set off from seven locations in the West End, Westminster and South London.

The activist group has confirmed it will be marching on different routes every weekday.

On its website, it calls for supporters to join in: “March with us at 7am every weekday and 12pm Saturdays at Parliament Square.”

It says members marched today in solidarity with activists Morgan Trowland and Marcus Decker who were jailed last week for three years for climbing the QE2 Bridge - the Dartford Crossing - as part of Just Stop Oil’s campaign of disruption. In addition there are five Insulate Britain supporters serving jail sentences for public nuisance.

Just Stop Oil said at 1pm today, hundreds more will set off from Parliament Square, marching to the Shell building with supporters of Extinction Rebellion and other groups from The Big One protests. The Big One is into the last of four days of peaceful demonstrations in Westminster.

A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said: “Asia is baking in extreme heat, threatening the lives of a third of the people on earth, but this government of criminals and bullies does not care. They are actively making it worse, licensing new oil and gas while silencing dissent and jailing those who resist.

“More oil and gas means more heatwaves, more crop failure and more death. It is the greatest criminal act in human history. The government has lost its legitimacy. They are knowingly planning the murder of hundreds of thousands of UK citizens.

“In the face of this obscenity, as an act of service and love, we have chosen to act. Civil resistance is our only hope. This is life or death, survival or collective suicide. It’s time to pick a side. We won’t stop until our genocidal government ends new oil and gas.”

Pia Bastide, 29, from London and a full-time volunteer with Just stop Oil, who is on a march this morning, said: “I feel that civil resistance is my moral duty. I was brought up to know the difference between right and wrong, and what this murderous, corrupted government is doing is plain wrong.

“Putting my freedom on the line is the least I can do to ensure my loved ones and I have a liveable future. We need to stand up to a government that does not have our best interests at heart and that is determined to sell our futures, one new oil licence at a time.”

Marcin Wawrzyn, 42, a construction worker from London who is on a march this morning, said: “I work in construction and I am here because the British government is messing with laws of physics. New oil and gas is genocide and they know it. I was 10 years old when I first heard of climate change. That was 30 years ago. I won’t be sitting around and waiting for another three decades.”

“I’m back to work in two weeks’ time and I will get stuck in this traffic myself. And it’s worth it. And I would tell these people: This is bigger than World War Two, the miners’ strike, and the Berlin Wall, bigger than the poll tax riots. We need a human tipping point. It’s time to pick a side. We can win this. Join Just Stop Oil on a slow march, every Saturday at midday from Parliament Square.”

Since the Just Stop Oil campaign began last April, there have been more than 2,100 arrests and 138 people have spent time in prison, many without trial.