Just Stop Oil will slow march in Manchester on 17 June

Jane Touil (left) and Wendy Cocks (second left) at a previous Just Stop Oil protest

Two Rochdale residents,Wendy Cocks and Jane Touil, will join other supporters of Just Stop Oil to slow march in Manchester on Saturday 17 June, to draw attention to the government’s genocidal licensing of new oil and gas projects in a climate emergency. The march will be similar to the slow marches which have disrupted central London every day since 24 April.

They are demanding that the government stops licensing and consents for all new UK fossil fuel projects.

The march follows the introduction of new police powers on Tuesday that reclassify ‘major disruption’ as ‘anything more than minor’. This effectively bans the right to march in the street, a cornerstone of liberal democracy that has been fundamental to every progressive development for centuries.

Simon, who lives in Manchester and will be on the march, says: "The Government seems hell bent on promoting the exploitation of new fossil fuels. To me, this equates to knowingly condemning millions of people to death. Writing to our MPs, signing petitions and standing on pavements with banners asking governments to take action on the climate hasn’t achieved anything for 40 years and there’s no time left. That is why I feel direct action is now the only effective option."

Beth from Todmorden will also be there. She says: "I'm taking part in this slow march because I want a safe future for all the children and young people in my life. My best friend has two beautiful little boys and I can't bear the idea of them living in a world where the basics like food and water have become scarce, or even not available at all! New fossils fuels lock in that future - thats what the scientists tell us. And I don't care if the government makes protest illegal, I will not stop until our government does the right thing and halts all new oil, gas and coal projects."

The government plans to issue more than 100 new oil and gas licences – a move which is facing a legal challenge by campaign groups. The government is also facing a legal over its approval of the UK’s first new coal mine for over 30 years, at Whitehaven in Cumbria.

Climate scientists have warned that the granting of new fossil fuel licenses is incompatible with staying within 1.5C of global warming – a temperature increase widely understood to be disastrous for nature and humanity.

UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, warned world leaders at the international climate summit, COP27, in December, that: “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator. Our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible. We need urgent climate action.”

The Manchester action is part of an ongoing campaign which includes daily slow marches in London and the disruption of high profile events such as the World Snooker Championships, the Chelsea Flower Show and opera at Glyndebourne.

The current wave of actions follows a campaign of disruptive action by Just Stop Oil in the final months of 2022, with daily roadblocks in central London during October, the repeated closure of the M25 in November, when Just Stop Oil supporters climbed the overhead gantries, as well as a series of slow-marches in the capital during December. Since the campaign began on 1 April 2022 there have been over 2,000 arrests of Just Stop Oil supporters, with more than 130 having been imprisoned.
 

Read more: Rochdale activist arrested after scaling M25 gantry in support of Just Stop OilPublished: 10 November 2022

Just Stop Oil is holding a public talk on the climate crisis and what supporters can achieve through direct action. The talk is at Methodist Central Hall, Oldham St, M1 1JQ on Thursday 22 June.