'Government condemns us to food shortages and freezing homes’ – says jailed Derbyshire climate activist

Around 15 Just Stop Oil supporters, including Lucia Whittaker, 33, from Derby, climbed onto the overhead gantries of the M25 in at least 12 locations on both Monday and Tuesday, causing police to close large sections of the motorway. A further 10 are understood to have climbed gantries today.

The latest action comes after the Government failed to respond to Just Stop Oil’s ultimatum - that the Government reverses its plans to license more than 130 new oil and gas projects or the campaign of disruption would be escalated.

It also comes as world leaders met at COP27 - the international climate talks in Egypt - where the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, warned them that we ‘are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator and ‘our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible so we need urgent climate action’.

Lucia, who participated in gantry climbing was arrested on Tuesday and held in custody to appear today before Westminster Magistrates Court today, where she was remanded until her hearing on 7 December. She has already been arrested 14 times and been to prison earlier this year for her actions with Just Stop Oil.

She said: “If our government insists on approving new fossil fuels, then our future is guaranteed to be extremely bleak. Taking action with Just Stop Oil is a justifiable act of self-defence. The catastrophic effects of the climate crisis are no longer a future concern; they are impacting us in the UK right now.

“I refuse to stay home and grumble whilst our government condemns us to food shortages and freezing homes. It's up to ordinary citizens to force them to stop killing us with new fossil fuels and support the transition to renewable energy.”

During this campaign of disruption, polling has shown a huge surge in support for nonviolent direct action of the sort carried out by Just Stop Oil, with 66% saying they support taking action to protect the climate and just 34% opposed.