For weeks, they have been tied to goalposts at football matches, locked in pipes at oil terminals – stuck on tankers and on roads and pushed for headlines. We spent a day following them as they crossed roads and targeted oil terminals on the banks of the Thames in Essex. For good reason, they are closely monitored by the police, so most communications involve telephones and encrypted messaging applications. Image: Protesters cut off traffic as part of their curfew It all starts at Purfleet, where we wait at the agreed location – a busy petrol and gas station popular with trucks – for activists to arrive. Suddenly, about 15 of them show up in the garage yard. They walk in a line along road A that runs next to the gas station and sit quietly. Some people start sticking their hands on the asphalt. Others lie down. Chaos ensues almost immediately as angry truck drivers scream until they stop, beep and swear, and a small group of protesters rush to their side to try to climb on top of their tankers. The next few minutes are very hairy – two drivers, shouting from their windows, walk away to escape the trap as the protesters run off the road. But one driver slows down to speak and as a polite but determined protester talks to him, two others climb to the side of his vehicle. He is stuck. “I’m sorry that this caught you,” said the protester, “when the police arrive here you will be free in about two hours.” “Two hours!” the driver explodes, opens his window and yells at his boss. Image: An unnamed protester says Just Stop Oil has only one request for government Read more: Climate change activists enter tunnels as they block access to Essex oil terminals The unnamed protester told Sky News that Just Stop Oil had only one demand – that the UK government agree to immediately suspend all future licensing and consensus on the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in United Kingdom. “We tried with marches, we tried with requests, they did not listen to us. “This must be the next step and we must seize the opportunity of the very small window we have.” He agrees that the public is unlikely to support Just Stop Oil’s efforts, but hopes that “they will finally understand”. The police have reached about 100 meters away. They arrest and remove roadblocks that are not stuck. Others began working with solvent solution and wooden spatulas, carefully peeling the skin off the road. Drivers at the beep junction swear and protest. One protester, who would only give her name as Becky, answered my questions about the impact of her group’s actions on ordinary people trying to make a living. She acknowledged that she would prefer not to cause so much upset, but she is so frustrated with the UK government’s continued commitment to oil and gas for decades to come that she has no choice. Image: Becky said she was “disappointed” with the UK government’s continued commitment to oil and gas for decades to come. “If I was in my car, stuck in traffic, that’s why I would be a cross. But I have five children and I need to know that there is a future for them. “I heard the report from the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), I know we have a good eight years of oil that we can use during the transition (to clean energy). “I know that if we leave it at that, if we go above 2 degrees Celsius, there will be no crops, there will be no food. “I do not want to be here, I do not want to do this. What choice do I have? Without doing this, I have no hope, only despair.” Truck drivers nearby are not impressed. Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 1:11 Demonstrations at the oil terminal HGV driver Danny Nash said: “I know we’re going to go electric and all that, but this is not the way to do it. “Because you endure and create more trouble, more pollution, more traffic, more everything. I think it’s crazy, absolutely crazy.” Derek Ratford went further: “It’s pathetic what they are doing. “If it were me, I would drop the M25 with them. They are mental, they are holding the country for ransom. Get them out and put them in jail.” An hour later we are on the banks of the Thames following 25 young activists on an uneven path – they are heading to an oil terminal and want to invade and stop the work, as they did elsewhere. Image: Activists called “selfish, fanatical and frankly dangerous” by Home Secretary Priti Patel Xanthi is 17 years old. She is here with the support of her mom and dad, she says, and is ready to be arrested, regardless of the consequences. He says: “(The government) can start now – they had a massive emergency response during the coronavirus pandemic and I think they know how to respond to emergencies. “The recent IPCC report said that solar and wind energy were the cheapest and most efficient, so I think they just have to stop oil, especially investment in oil and fossil fuels.” After a 30-minute walk, the group arrives near the perimeter fence of the terminal. They are spotted by a guard and rush forward together, holding ladders and mats to overcome the sharp peaks at the top. Two get over – straight into the arms of some very annoyed security guards and a barking guard dog. Another group breaks out and finds a way to get in, scattering the security team and the police who quickly found each other. Those who stayed abroad are looking for another route, but the police are dragged to a place by a bridge. Many are arrested, but not before two manage to get stuck in a wall. Embarrassed and annoyed workers at the terminals look, the police look and sound annoyed. Image: Student Dillon says “this is the only way the government can hear” Dillon, a 20-year-old student, listens as I ask him about the danger he has put himself and the police resources he is taking. He said: “Unfortunately this is the only way the government can hear, the upset it causes. Only then can the government hear that we are all terrified.” Subscribe to ClimateCast on Spotify, Apple Podcast or Spreaker Interior Minister Priti Patel described the activists as selfish, fanatical and frankly dangerous, and the Labor Party said there should be an immediate ban on their protests across the country. But I felt that this is a very focused, very determined and quite well organized group of people with a very clear goal and increasingly clear goals in mind. They will also not get what they want from the British government, setting the stage for a long and protracted battle that will test the patience of many.
