“We need a new street movement in the living spirit of our communities,” Lunnon told me in London last weekend. “We need a working strong democracy with citizens’ assemblies. And we will build a non-violent civil resistance on a scale that the world never dreamed of.”
Dressed in the group’s trademark hi-vis vests, a crowd of several hundred had gathered at a meeting point in St James’ Park, London, overseen by a few relaxed police officers and curious members of the press.
This group of rather bookish, outwardly gentle types, many of them reaching or past retirement age, hardly seemed likely contenders for public enemy number one. Was this really the group branded by media commentators “hooligans”, “eco-loons” and “thugs”, that had inspired a host of anti-protest legislation from an apparently panicked government, whose members had been derided in court as “fanatics”?
According to JSO’s data, over three years their supporters were arrested about 3,300 times. As of Saturday, 11 were behind bars, serving sentences of up to (in the case of Hallam) four years.
Standing menacingly by a tree, sporting plastic-rimmed glasses, greying hair cut short in a pixie crop and flower-patterned rucksack no doubt hiding tools of mass disruption, Ginny Barrett (above) was plainly one of the more dangerous of this rabble.
She had taken action with Just Stop Oil as many as 25 times, “but I’ve only been arrested four times,” she said. She was sanguine about the end of the campaign. “It’s all good, because there’ll be a plan,” she said. “I’m sure there’s a plan.”
As they began a slow march, circling Parliament Square, up Whitehall and along the Strand towards the Royal Courts of Justice, the group found themselves well policed. But today was not a day for civil disobedience – it felt as much like a meeting of old friends. Still, traffic was obstructed and drivers got annoyed. In that way, it was just like old times.
Member David Crawford thought the end of JSO was “a reasonable decision”. “Its principal aim has been met,” he said. “For the moment the government is honouring its commitment for no new oil, gas and coal, which is what we set out to encourage the government to do. It’s been three years of action and I think it’s reasonable to take stock of the new political position, the new world position, and I’ve no doubt that peaceful civil disobedience will continue – in what form I’ve yet to see.”
With key activists behind bars, and a series of trials on the horizon, it is unclear what comes next for the climate activists of Just Stop Oil. Despite the limited victory over North Sea oil and gas, the climate crisis continues apace. Last year the global temperatures surpassed the 1.5C of heating beyond which climate change is expected to truly become a crisis.
Given that, I would hazard a guess that we haven’t heard the last of the climate activists yet.
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