“I’m doing this for my son,” says a woman to the camera as she is carried off Waterloo Bridge by police officers during protests on Sunday staged by campaign groups Just Stop Oil, Extinction Rebellion and others.
The major civil resistance march over the weekend closed four bridges in central London, bringing parts of the capital to a standstill, while simultaneous national rail strikes crippled transport services more widely.
In the video, the woman provides a remarkably clear rationale for why she is protesting, despite being forcibly carried away by the police.
Speaking to the camera following her as she is marched away, she says: “I’m doing this for my son – the government’s inaction on climate change is a death sentence for us all.
“The United Nations has said we should have no new oil. Liz Truss wants to [grant] 130 new oil licences – that’s a death sentence for this planet.”
Just Stop Oil, one of the key organisers of the protest, told The Independent the woman was released from custody on Monday morning and was not facing charges.
The group, which has recently staged demonstrations on the M25, said they were calling on the government to “end the cost of living and climate crisis by stopping new oil and gas”.
On Saturday “tens of thousands” of protesters, according to Just Stop Oil, blocked Waterloo, Westminster, Lambeth and Vauxhall bridges by sitting in the road.
On Sunday Waterloo Bridge remained the focus of the protests with hundreds of protesters gathering and at least 35 people arrested by police.
In a statement on Monday, Just Stop Oil said the protests in central London would continue.
“We declare Westminster a site of nonviolent civil resistance until the government commits to end new oil and gas,” the group said.
“This is not a one day event, this is an act of resistance against a criminal government and their genocidal death project. Our supporters will be returning – today – tomorrow – and the next day – and the next day after that – and every day until our demand is met – no new oil and gas in the UK.”
As well as the rail strikes, the demonstrations in London came alongside 50 protests as part of the emergent Enough is Enough movement, campaigning against the government’s handling of the cost of living crisis.
Protests were held in London, Newcastle, Sheffield, Brighton, Nottingham, Aberdeen, Ramsgate, Cardiff, Norwich, Glasgow, Worthing, Luton, Ellesmere Port, Manchester, Lincoln, Lancaster, Broadstairs, Hull, Leeds, Colchester, Southend, Portsmouth, Lichfield, Swansea, York, and Hastings among many more.
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