Two Just Stop Oil supporters have decorated Stonehenge in eco-friendly, washable orange powder paint. They are demanding that the incoming UK government commit to working with other governments to agree an equitable plan to end the extraction and burning of fossil fuels by 2030. Predictably, though, the right-wing trash media and their new BFF Keir Starmer have gone for the jugular – reacting like the protesters had just hung, drawn, and quartered Taylor Swift.
Just Stop Oil: horror at Stonehenge
At around 11am on Wednesday 19 June, the two supporters began spraying the iconic rocks at the ancient site near Salisbury. Tomorrow thousands are expected to descend on the site to celebrate the Summer Solstice.
Predictably, cops arrested two Just Stop Oil protesters:
🚔 ARRESTED AT STONEHENGE
⛓️ Rajan and Niamh have been taken into custody after covering #Stonehenge in orange powder paint.
🧡 The paint is made of cornstarch, which will wash away in the rain, but the urgent need for effective government action to mitigate the catastrophic… pic.twitter.com/KKXuBrhWCn
— Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) June 19, 2024
Rajan Naidu was one of the Just Stop Oil protesters who sprayed Stonehenge. They said:</p>
Either we end the fossil fuel era, or the fossil fuel era will end us. Just as fifty years ago, when the world used international treaties to defuse the threats posed by nuclear weapons, today the world needs a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to phase out fossil fuels and to support dependent economies, workers and communities to move away from oil, gas and coal.”
The orange cornflour we used to create an eye-catching spectacle will soon wash away with the rain, but the urgent need for effective government action to mitigate the catastrophic consequences of the climate and ecological crisis will not. Sign the treaty!
That’s right. It was cornflour, a harmless food ingredient. However, if you read the right-wing media, or browse Starmer’s timeline, you would have though Just Stop Oil doused Stonehenge in gloss paint
Starmer and the gammonati: two cheeks of the same arse
The Labour leader-turned-gammon aficionado weighed in on the cornflourgate – just to make sure he mopped up some votes in Clacton:
The damage done to Stonehenge is outrageous. Just Stop Oil are pathetic. Those responsible must face the full force of the law.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) June 19, 2024
The frothing Murdoch babies at TalkTV had an equally over the top response:
Two Just Stop Oil activists have desecrated Stonehenge with orange powder paint. pic.twitter.com/gYznqDorHU
— Talk (@TalkTV) June 19, 2024
Starmer’s favourite media outlet the Sun blasted Just Stop Oil:
WATCH: Just Stop Oil idiots blast Stonehenge with orange paint in their latest shocking stunt. pic.twitter.com/BDrOWuk95e
— The Sun (@TheSun) June 19, 2024
While centre-right psyop Politics UK said they had “vandalised” Stonehenge:
🚨 NEW: Just Stop Oil have vandalised Stonehenge with orange paint over the lack of action on phasing our fossil fuels
pic.twitter.com/AMLPLQ2uV4— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) June 19, 2024
Get a fucking grip
A spokesperson for the group said:
The UK’s government in waiting has committed to enacting Just Stop Oil’s original demand of ‘no new oil and gas’. However, we all know this is not enough. Continuing to burn coal, oil and gas will result in the death of millions.
We have to come together to defend humanity or we risk everything. That’s why Just Stop Oil is demanding that our next government sign up to a legally binding treaty to phase out fossil fuels by 2030.
Failure to commit to defending our communities will mean Just Stop Oil supporters, along with citizens from Austria, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands and Switzerland will join in resistance this summer, if their own Governments do not take meaningful action. Stone circles can be found in every part of Europe showing how we’ve always cooperated across vast distances – we’re building on that legacy.
Niamh Lynch, who also took action, said:
Stonehenge at solstice is all about celebrating the natural world – but look at the state it’s in! We all have a right to live a life free from suffering, but continued burning of oil, coal and gas is leading to death and suffering on an unparalleled scale.
It’s time for us to think about what our civilization will leave behind – what is our legacy?
Standing inert for generations works well for stones – not climate policy.
Yet still, the likes of right-wing Starmer and the rest of the capitalist class continue to react disproportionately to JSO’s actions. Maybe its because it’s in their financial and personal interests to keep destroying the planet.
So, perhaps Chris Packham summed it up the best:
I support Just Stop Oil… as long as they keep up that imagination… finding ways of peacefully non violently demonstrating… what they’re up against is people turning them into villains. They’re not… they’re the canaries in the coal mine.
Featured image via Just Stop Oil and the Canary
