Police carried out mass arrests of 80 Just Stop Oil supporters outside Parliament as Andy Burnham conducted his first Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). Burnham’s government carried out its repressive action on the same day the UN reported that the globe is on track for at least 2°C warming in our lifetime.
The protesters were demanding that Burnham stop approving all further oil and gas developments and sign a fossil fuel treaty to prevent further exploitation and pollution.
60 people blocked the road on Parliament Square, with a significant number ‘gluing on’. Another large group continues to demonstrate in support from the nearby pavement. The Met arrested the group blocking the road, even though protesters left part of the road clear to allow access for emergency vehicles.
No UK benefit
Burnham has said he is ready to approve more oil and gas drilling licences in the North Sea, eben though it will do “nothing to lower UK energy bills or strengthen energy security”. In fact, the main beneficiary would be Israel, which owns ‘British’ oil firm Ithaca and supplies Israel’s illegal ‘settlements’ on stolen Palestinian and Syrian land.
Holding banners which read ‘FOR FUCK’S SAKE, JUST STOP OIL’, the action takers took to the road in Parliament Square at the strike of 12 from Big Ben. They are blocking Andy Burnham’s first Prime Minister’s Questions. [3]
Norfolk mum Trish Fitzmaurice, one of those arrested on the road today, said:
Andy Burnham, we are crying out for leadership! The climate crisis is the biggest threat humanity has ever faced. We are destroying our only home by burning fossil fuels. Oil and gas mean death.
Met Office data indicate that 2026 was the hottest summer in UK recorded history, beating 2025 which was the previous record holder. 2026 was also one of the driest summers on record, delivering record-low food harvests and leading to devastating wildfires across the UK. National fire chiefs described the wildfire risk facing the UK as ”like nothing we have seen before”.
Lancaster student Sam Burgess, 26, another arrestee, 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.
Right-wing ‘mainstream’ media have mocked the relative quiet of climate activists, with the Metro even claiming they had become inactive because their goals had been met, despite this year’s deadly droughts, wildfires, and heatwaves in the UK and Europe. Just Stop Oil’s call for the end of new oil and gas licensing had been agreed by the government, but Burnham and energy secretary Miattah Fanbulleh now look ready to u-turn on their commitments to climate action.
As with anti-genocide activists, the Starmer regime had treated climate protesters as terrorists, with Starmer describing eco-groups as a “pathetic…mob” and demanding severe punishments. And, just as Burnham has continued Starmer’s war on anti-genocide protest rights, he clearly intends the same with the climate movement.
The imminent minimum 2°C of warming predicted today by the UN will create global weather system collapse and trigger never-before-seen droughts, wildfires, and floods in every inhabited continent. The German Physics Society and the German Meteorological Society have predicted worse still: a 3°C average temperature rise, triggering mass global starvation and irreversible flooding of major cities.
Just Stop Oil: popular will ignored
72-year-old Macclesfield priest Rev Bill White said governments must stop ignoring the will of UK people:
Over 80% of people want the government to take more action. It’s time for us all to say ‘For God’s sake, Just Stop Oil!’
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson added:
We are all Just Stop Oil. Every single person who fears deadly wildfires, devastating droughts, and spiralling food shortages is Just Stop Oil. The first duty of government is to keep the public safe – but by greenlighting oil and gas drilling, they endanger our survival while corporates and billionaires laugh their way to the bank.
Every one of us feels alone and powerless in the face of this insanity but we know there is massive political and public support for our demand. So we’re inviting everyone to join us at an online call on 3rd October 2026 – because it’s when we work together that we are powerful and we win. Sign up at www.juststopoil.org.
Just Stop Oil is holding an online call for support on 3 October.
Featured image and additional images supplied
By Skwawkbox
From Canary via This RSS Feed.