Co-founder of Extinction Rebellion protest group to speak in Lancaster

Hallam will speak about the civil resistance campaign Just Stop Oil, which hit headlines recently when supporters disrupted sporting events, glued themselves to paintings and closed down oil terminals. It is demanding that the government stop issuing new oil and gas licences.A spokesman from Just Stop Oil said: “We are doing talks to engage the public on the reality of the climate situation and the criminal action being undertaken by our government by continuing to invest in new fossil fuel projects, against all scientific advice.

"We are communicating that when the government is putting our lives, and those of future generations, in danger we have a duty and a responsibility to engage in peaceful civil resistance to stop it, and that we are absolutely justified in taking this response”.The campaign has gained in strength recently as other groups have joined it as 'coalition partners'. Fuel Poverty Action and the Peace and Justice Project, founded by Jeremy Corbyn, have thrown their support behind it, as have several Trades Union groups.Corbyn said: “It’s too hot and everything is too expensive. That’s the crisis. You can’t separate out the cost of living and climate crises.

"The whole system, which creates billionaires and starves hundreds of millions, is the crisis. It can’t be resolved, it must be overcome and transformed.

"Movements are the motor of change in history. When we come together, we can transform the world. And we must because those in power – the fossil fuel giants, the billionaires and the governments they own – are picking our pockets and stealing our future.”Sandra Elsworth, from Morecambe, who has been arrested several times for her part in the campaign so far, said “The record heat last week proves we can no longer ignore the climate crisis or treat it as a future problem.

"We already have heatwaves, wildfires and crop failures here in the UK which endanger our homes and landscapes and disrupts our food and water supply.

“The first responsibility of any government is to protect and safeguard its citizens but it’s plans to open over 40 new oil and gas fields, not to mention it’s talk of reopening fracking sites, put us all in danger”.Pete Bailey from Lancaster, another local Just Stop Oil supporter who has been arrested multiple times, said: “Continuing to open up new oil fields when the science has been clear for more than forty years is a crime against humanity.

"The Secretary General of the UN has said as much. Ordinary people are rising up and taking a stand to demand no new oil, because our leaders are failing us.

"They’re in cahoots with the billionaires who seek to profit from these industries even as they knowingly destroy any hope for a liveable future. I will do whatever I can to make them stop, because the consequences of ploughing on regardless don't bear imagining"

For more information contact [email protected].

Roger Hallam will be speaking at the Quakers Meeting House in Lancaster from 7pm-9pm on Wednesday, August 3.

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