Just Stop Oil take action in London (Picture: JSO)
Just Stop Oil is back. The group blocked traffic outside parliament in central London on Wednesday during Andy Burnham’s first prime minister’s question time.
Members of the non-violent direct action group held banners reading, “For fuck’s sake, just stop oil.”
Police arrested 62 people who were part of the roadblock. A larger group of protesters also gathered on the pavement to show their support.
Lancaster based student Sam Burgess, who was part of the action, said, “More oil is a death sentence. The unprecedented heatwaves killed over 35,000 extra people in Europe this summer.
“I’m not going to sit by and wait for this figure to include someone I love. The government must start protecting its citizens and Just Stop Oil.”
JSO supporters said last year that they were hanging up their hi-viz jackets. The Labour government had announced in its 2024 election manifesto that it was committed to offering no new licenses for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea.
JSO declared victory, but few thought this would be enough to stop climate breakdown.
Labour has been looking for ways to get around the manifesto pledge. Burnham is currently considering giving the go ahead for drilling at two fields with existing licenses, Rosebank and Jackdaw.
Meanwhile, the following day up to 250 people protested at the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh against the mass roll-out of new data centres for artificial intelligence (AI).
Data centres are an environmental catastrophe due to their requirements for energy and water for cooling.
Andrew is part of the campaign against the planned Cato data centre in Auchtertool in Fife, Scotland.
He told Socialist Worker that people came from anti-data centre campaigns from all over Scotland.
“The first protest had about 30 or 40 people so it is gaining momentum,” he said.
Andrew explained that he joined the protest alongside other members of the Dunfermline Creatives Network. The group of artists was there to make the links between the threat to jobs from artificial intelligence and its environmental impacts.
“AI threatens the very existence of artists, filmmakers and everyone in the creative industries—it’s dystopian,” he said. “It’s really important that we support the fight against hyperscale data centres.”
Andrew added that there is some movement from the Scottish government as it has now required companies building data centres to get an environmental impact assessment.
But the protest’s key demand is for a moratorium on new data centres.
Stop the Heathrow third runway
Unite union rep speaks on deal
Michael Sheen has produced a powerful documentary
