SCOTTISH environmental protesters blocked The Mall outside Buckingham Palace yesterday morning in a demonstration against new fossil fuel licences.
Around two dozen activists in high-visibility orange vests sat in the road holding Just Stop Oil banners.
The protesters said they felt the need to act after the UK Government gave its backing in September to an expansion of oil and gas operations in the North Sea.
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) is expected to undertake a new round of oil and gas licensing this month. Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said more than 100 new licences could be granted, which he claimed could “safeguard” UK energy supplies and support more than 70,000 jobs in Scotland.
Emma Brown, 31, from Glasgow, who was attending her first such protest, made a reference to the well-known Proclaimers hit when she said that the activists “would walk 500 miles” to “just stop oil”.
She said: “We’ve come down because the government is pressing ahead with more than 100 new fossil fuel licences. And that is literally a death sentence for all of us here and for all of you.
“We can’t allow this to continue. We have to have a cut-off
somewhere. We’ve seen the effects already on our doorstep. We’re seeing the effects all over the globe. And this madness has to stop.”
The protesters received a mixed reaction from passers-by, with one taxi driver shouting: “F****** load of w******. Go and get a real f****** job.”
A Scottish man on a bike told them: “Go on the protesters, you’re doing great work. Stay strong.”
Asked by one police officer how long they intended to stay at the scene, a protester replied: “Until we get a new government.”
A police liaison officer said: “Let me know if I can I do anything for you.” The protester replied: “Not unless you have a letter from Liz Truss.”
Officers searched the protesters, some of whom had glued their hands together.
Police told the demonstrators that they intended to clear the road for the changing of the guard.
While some protesters left of their own volition at around 10am and were taken to a police van others were physically lifted by officers to different vans.
Police made 25 arrests during the demonstration, after disruption which lasted just over two hours.
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