Just Stop Oil supporters briefly disrupted a fundraising dinner held by Labour frontbencher Anneliese Dodds on Friday 23 February. It was to deliver their request that Dodds commit to leaving the Labour Party within six months, if it fails to cancel all Tory oil and gas licences granted after 2021.
Anneliese Dodds: upset at dinner time
Demonstrators from a coalition of groups including Just Stop Oil, Students vs Oil Oxford, Oxford Palestine Society, XR Youth Oxford, Oxford Climate Justice Campaign, and Actions Against War Crimes Oxford, gathered outside the restaurant NEF Istanbul on Cowley Road , Oxford from 6:30pm.
They then briefly entered the dinner, unfurling banners in front of Dodds:
🚨 BREAKING: Anneliese Dodds' Fundraising Dinner Disrupted in Oxford
🛢️ A letter was delivered to the Labour frontbencher, demanding the Labour Party ends Tory oil and gas.
🔥 Politics is failing. Join us and together we will change the system — https://t.co/7BzUVS02dZ pic.twitter.com/n0F4UVoJpC
— Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) February 23, 2024
Ollie Sworder is a student from Oxford was one of those taking action. He spoke up at the event, saying:
I’m here with Just Stop Oil demanding Labour commit to revoking Tory oil Llcences. Anneliese Dodds: your party is dropping climate commitments when we need them most. We need you to stand up and to push for Labour to Stop Tory Oil, or leave the party.
Here in Oxford there’s been substantial flooding, and this is only going to get worse. People in your constituency are scared for their homes and families. My generation is scared of the climate collapse Tory oil is creating. Why won’t Labour protect us?”
We need you to commit to revoking Tory oil and gas licences, and if that fails, to step out of the Labour Party and become an Independent.
Also speaking up was Rosy Wilson, a student and supporter of Oxford Against War Crimes.
Together they delivered a letter to Anneliese Dodds with a list of demands including “For Labour to halt all new oil and gas licences, and revoke the ones granted by the Conservatives, including the Rosebank project”:
Predictably, cops moved into to protect Dodds and Just Stop Oil’s scary handkerchiefs-come-napkin banners and letter.
‘Horrifying’ – and that’s just the Tories
Present at the action was Irfan Mamun, a PhD student in Molecular Biology at Oxford University. He said:
As a scientist, it’s been horrifying seeing the UK government last year handing out new oil and gas licences when it was the hottest year on record. The consequences of the crisis that we are facing are terrifying. If we don’t end our exploration for new oil and gas immediately, and convince other countries to do the same, we are facing a catastrophe where millions will die. We have to take action now.
I’m calling on my local MP Anneliese Dodds who is the chair of the Labour Party, to commit to stopping Tory oil within 6 months of being in power, or to stand down from the party. I hope she will do the right thing and represent the people of Oxford, the UK and beyond.
As the world passes tipping points that threaten the breakdown of ordered civilization, world leaders, captured by the interests of oil lobbyists and big business, are failing to protect our communities. British citizens are sick of being led by liars and crooks. Until we stop Tory oil, Just Stop Oil says it will continue taking proportionate action to demand necessary change.
Featured image and additional images via Just Stop Oil
