Members of the environmental group Just Stop Oil led an action in London on Tuesday near Downing Street, demanding that the new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ban all new exploration for fossil fuels.
Videos circulating on social networks show in particular activists wishing to climb the high entrance gates to Downing Street being immediately intercepted by police officers on duty. According to the group, other activists sat on the asphalt of Whitehall, the artery which serves Downing Street, deploying banners, some sticking to the roadway.
“genocidal policy”
In a statement, the organization asked the government to abandon “new oil and gas projects”. “This genocidal policy will kill millions of people, failing to tackle the worst cost of living crisis this country has ever seen,” he continued, calling for a windfall tax on oil company profits.
Faced with government plans to legislate to crack down on “guerrilla” tactics, Just Stop Oil, six of whose members are currently behind bars after participating in various actions, counters that the group will not allow itself to be “intimidated” or “reduced in silence”.
The group has carried out a series of blockades for the past month, sometimes causing friction with the public, and actions where activists have encrusted the wax statue of King Charles at Madame Tussauds, thrown tomato soup on Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ at the National Gallery or spray paint an Aston Martin dealership.