Just Stop Oil are the people that were blocking traffic of normal everyday citizens.
Their sentences weren’t lengthy enough in my opinion.
Lol you’re delusional if you think that most people would want others imprisoned for years for conspiring to cause traffic or even to cause it.
I think Just Stop Oil are largely a bunch of morons, but I still think a five year prison sentence for conspiracy to peacefully protest is abhorrent.
“I can’t go to my office job or to get more mayo from asda because those wankers are protesting the end of the world!? Death penalty to them!”
Emergency vehicles exist.
And can be routed intelligently, and protests overwhelmingly let them pass. Traffic jams should also let them pass.
People can lose their jobs.
Is it so bad in the UK that a single day being late can justify an employer to fire people? I think you should join the protestors.
Am I a liberal? I expect protests to have permission beforehand just like they need in Sweden where I am from. They would have been charged there too.
That only works if a government wants to let you protest. And if people will even pay attention if you’re protesting in a “citizen approved protesting location”.
Kind of pointless to protest if no one pays attention to you.
Government sanctioned protest ain’t no protest lol. If you’re protesting the government action by asking their permission, might as well write them angry letter so they can throw it in the bin quicker.
On Armistice Day, EDL protesters marched towards the Cenotaph (without permission) and launched fireworks that were intended to hit people and did strike policemen in the face. Let’s see if they get 5 years.
Do you think that their protest action should instead not inconvenience anyone so that it can continue to be ignored like all climate protests of that nature have been for decades?
So yes, you want people to protest in the same manner that has been ignored for decades. Gotcha.
Peaceful protest should not be a cause for government punishment at all, this sentence is absolutely insane and should be revoked at the earliest convenience.
The new government should restore our right to protest policies without fear of imprisonment.
There is nothing peaceful about blocking traffic.
It is first off illegal to protest on a busy road unless you’ve acquired a permit and have a way to redirect traffic. What they were doing were illegal protests.
Second, it doesn’t matter what your message is. If you block traffic, you are the biggest cunt there is, and you are actively harming your own cause by showing the world what kind of people you are. If you’ve seen the videos, and read the comments, you know that 99% of the people are cheering when angry drivers pull the protesters by their hair out of the streets.
The entitlement of some people the moment they have a car. “Somebody took 20min of my time, they literally deserve 5 years in jail and to be assaulted in public.”. You’re sick, nothing your doing is important, sit in traffic and seeth. If you don’t like it, take the train.
I still don’t understand why JSO is bothering common folk with their protests, go block politicians - you know, the people who YOU want to make the treatise to stop the use of oil!
I agree with what they want (though it would’ve been nice if they had a plan how to slow down our oil use, but then again they’re no experts on that), but I do think they’re being dumb on how to achieve it. You don’t see Union Strikers block off a highway to get what they want, they’ll instead block off some plant where they work - now that makes sense! Go bother politicians.
Protestation IS democracy you fucking fascists.
There is no such thing as an illegal protest. That is a concept made up by the people being protested against so that they can squash it. Protests are not supposed to be “convenient”. They are not supposed to be comfortable or nice or pretty. They are supposed to force people to face the issue and band together to bring about real change.
That’s not how it works. There is no country where protesting in the middle of the street without a permit is legal. There absolutely is something like illegal protesting, and what Just Stop Oil did was one example. Protests are about being seen, not causing inconvenience or even danger. You are not above the law just because you’re protesting. Getting a permit and demonstrating outside the white house would have been the correct way to go about this.
The only people who banded together as a result of this protest were angry drivers banding together to remove the nuisance, and climate deniers who got radicalized by the rage, seeing Just Stop Oil protests.
People in here are arguing about whether the government should be able to allow or disallow protests, i.e. “legal” or “illegal” protests.
I think Denmark has a good middle ground solution to this: Protests must be declared to the police ahead of time, so they know it is happening. Note that this is not an application or an ask for permission! You always have permission, you only have to make the police aware that you are protesting, so they can monitor it and ensure it follows law and order and doesn’t turn violent.
On paper, but the city will still say “Friday’s not good for us, how about next never?” Then the protest still happens but now the police can say the protest was announced too late and is violent while setting a corn field on fire with their tear gas. Which just happened this weekend.
Guys, I’m planning to cause a traffic jam, and you all are invited.
Oh wait, that’s just normal traffic. Oh well, see y’all in jail.