Extinction Rebellion poured fake oil over the steps of the Labour Party headquarters this morning.
Activists from the group also scaled the front of the building in Blackfriars Road in Southwark and let off smoke grenades. Banners urged “Labour: Cut The Ties to Fossil Fuels”.
Extinction Rebellion said it was calling on a future Labour government to take urgent action to cancel new North Sea oil and gas licences, announced by the prime minister, earlier this year.
One of the activists, Marcus Bailie, 68, from South Wales, said:
“We demand an end to all new fossil fuel licences, including cancelling any awarded by this zombie Tory government before the next election. Emissions must peak by 2025. Opening a huge new oilfield like Rosebank would make that impossible. Starmer should be warning fossil fuel companies now that any new licences will become stranded assets.”
The organisation said it was also demanding a Labour manifesto commitment to make the transition to renewables an urgent priority.
Heather Wilde, 18, from Lincoln, said:
“Labour recently scaled down its commitment to fund the transition to clean energy, saying it will wait until the economy grows first. This concept is doomed to failure, while the economy is still dominated by fossil fuel use increased growth will inevitably mean increased greenhouse gas emissions. We cannot afford more delay, we demand immediate action on climate breakdown from a new Labour administration.”
DRILL OR DROP? 
It’s an interesting name for a group. Some have said their ambitions will also lead to extinction, and probably sooner. But at least, I hope, they will force our leaders to begin to come clean about the modern day myths that pass for climate and energy policy.
More on the Cut The Ties to Fossil Fuels campaign here;
https://chuffed.org/project/lxkkq3mzp8etwux
More on cutting the ties-from plastic keyboard at 11.38pm!!
Bless. That’s the way to do it?
Meanwhile, I will watch with interest how the “bids” to take part in the development of Sizewell C go, due to be in by 9th October. That old as the hills, very expensive insurance policy for the rather dim offspring who had to have the “cheap” go faster striped motor, and expecting someone else to pick up the cost. I understand the latest offering is? “It will be the French!” A replacement for the Bank of Mum and Dad, but then there needs to be one as many Mums and Dads are rather busy helping to pay for their offspring’s energy bills.
So its about trying to bolster the economy that has been detroyed by all these insane tory political factions we have had to endure for the last 13 years. The climate will be furhter damaged because presumably the Tories will leave a little note saying “there is no money”. So much for their reputation but this is bigger. We can now look forward to a life of unpredictable climate events that threaten our very lives. Its no wonder people have become cynical when politicians are elected to serve us but actually work for big companies in return for unspecified paybacks. And what about these countries living on atolls and in monsoon prone flooding areas? These people will be stateless, on the move, desperately trhing to get to a country that is deemed less likely to become uninhabitable. More people looking for a home far from their own country. The oil and gas guys dont care about humnaity, only about money, we have known this for a long long time and that is why we have fought them.
It’s pretty clear to me there are few if any “clean” facts in the public space these days. I mean those that have kept a semblance of their true shape under the battering and manipulation of lobbyists and media and divided public. And there’s always the barking of dogs wherever received wisdom is questioned: “We know, we have the solutions, and you’re in the way.” That’s the most revealing part of it really, but I’m probably being too subtle.
The “solutions” are not solutions, and at the very least have major undisclosed drawbacks. That’s what’s eventually going to have to come out. But will it be plain truth this time, or will it be obfuscated under the cover of further emergencies? The only way to avoid further deception is to avoid the bickering and finger pointing.
Thanks, CJR.
Well said, CJR. You have just exposed the absolute nonsense from those who adopt climate change as their political football.
Maybe 13 years from a financial crisis, into a pandemic followed by inflation caused initially by excess money plonked into economies to keep people and businesses going (good) followed by it being shown by a war that energy security that had been argued by many of all political persuasions was a dangerous myth (bad) had something to do with the economy?
Perhaps look at the emissions produced from the UK compared to the global levels, and the speed with which UK has moved towards Net Zero compared to other countries-and mainly within those 13 years endured.
Money is indeed made from fertilizers, from artificial rubber, from plastic syringes and plastic keyboards. Just as it is made from EVs forced upon the public making one individual very rich, (who stated himself they were unaffordable to the average motorist) from wind turbines and solar panels.
If you want to be an anti capitalist or anarchist that is a choice to be made, but be honest about it. If you want to be a climate activist have the courtesy to represent the facts of that, rather than get on your political soapbox.
The “Thanks, CJR” comes from an individual who posted about those in Africa not being given support to give them a local economy to support them. That is the problem with playing political football. The facts are forgotten/ignored. Good job VAR is there to show the errors.
Good on you two for passing over the contributions from the Windfall Tax, like the use of the evil fossil fuel derived products. LOL.
Don’t worry MARTIN , about plastic shortage for syringes and plastic keyboard .
The oceans are drowning in fossil fuel derived plastic
We have enough fossil fuel plastic junk floating in the ocean to recycle without the need to produce more.
” 1.6 MILLION ” Square Kilometers of PLASTIC JUNK
https://theoceancleanup.com/great-pacific-garbage-patch/#:~:text=The%20GPGP%20covers%20an%20estimated,times%20the%20size%20of%20France.&text=To%20formulate%20this%20number%2C%20the,elaborate%20sampling%20method%20ever%20coordinated.
It’s horrendous. I calculate roughly one drinks bottle every 20 metres for a thousand kilometers in every direction. That kind of littering has to stop. But frankly the article says it’s 80,000 tons! I’m reading that the world used 460 million tons of plastics in 2019, presumably for a lot more than just food packaging. That’s 6000 times more.
I don’t see us replacing plastic somehow. Even a significant reduction in consumption would require a big change of behaviour, and more importantly a vastly different industry with an economy that is much less efficient and therefore considerably poorer. And when it comes to net zero, some say it could result in productivity being set back to levels that could no longer support the current population. That view may go against the grain, but thoughtful people are increasingly coming to it. It’s becoming clearer every day that reliability and abundance are not as easily guaranteed for fossil fuel alternatives (where they exist) as we’ve been led to believe.
That’s not to abandon hope, just to come to a realistic perspective of the kind of world with which our goals (such as they are) are compatible. If ‘needs must’ then so be it, but we have to be aware of and plan for consequences. Whatever we do has to be based as far as possible in reality, not in fantasy, or we may create greater evils than the ones we’re seeking to avoid.
Hahaha… [edited by moderator] the ironic this is they have managed to get in to there 60’s and 70’s, with all the benefits oil and gas has supported their entire lives, low cost mortgages, the best baby boomer generation the world has ever seen, early retirement, an actual pension, non of the next generation will ever have the opportunity to dream about.
It is the i am Ok Jack attitude, i can sell my house i had the opportunity to buy for £2k in the 70’s, for £440k in the noughties to pay my oap care home costs.
Stagnation progression seems like a real GLOBAL progress!! I think NOT!
So while WE produce less than 1% of global CO2. WE should be the ones to ban fossil fuels first. So we destroy our economy and send our jobs to China who will happily send us electric cars which they’ve built using coal fired power stations. When we’ve finally reached the point where we’re not producing anything, we will have achieved no impact whatsoever on global CO2. Surely a more lunatic policy is hard to envisage. Does anyone seriously expect China and India to follow our lead ?
Yes, they do Graeme. You can trawl back through HoC or DoD and find such. It is what happens when there has been so much dumbing down it is mistakenly believed that everyone is as dumb.
Alternatively, it could be that those who are not going to follow our lead are quite active in making sure “we” are so dumb.