Oxfordshire Just Stop Oil supporters arrested after scaling railings at Downing Street

The pair of activists were taking part in a demonstration which saw members of the environmental group swarm the gates of Downing Street in Whitehall.

Several members of the group, including two residents from the county, attempted to scale the gates while others sat in the road to block the entrance.

READ MORE: Malfunctioning baby monitor devastates property in Wantage

Protesters blocked the road in London (Image: Just Stop Oil)

Other protesters glued their hands to the tarmac during the demonstration.

This action follows weeks of civil unrest by the environmental group as they demand that the Government halt all new oil and gas consents and licenses.

Jessica Upton, 53, was arrested for the second time this month.

The vet, who lives in East Oxford, said:  “I wouldn't be doing my job properly as a vet, foster carer and mother if I wasn't doing my utmost to ensure an inhabitable planet for all species.

“Fighting climate change is the ultimate preventative medicine. Our government is failing to step up to the fight and if sitting in a road being yelled at by motorists is what it takes to get their attention, I'll keep doing it.

“Stopping new fossil fuel licenses and exploration is the simple first step our government must take to protect its people.”

The demonstration follows weeks of civil unrest (Image: Just Stop Oil)

Another woman, 71-year-old Rachel Payne from Banbury said: “A world built on sustainable energy resources is possible through proper funding of renewable technologies that have been (and are) being developed.

“But the public are not told the truth about the climate crisis and breakdown and our government is failing to tackle the problem.

“While fossil fuel companies are making obscene profits from wrecking our future, our government is issuing new licences for more fossil fuel extraction.

“António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, has told us that: ‘Climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals. But the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels.’”

Several protesters were arrested (Image: Just Stop Oil)

A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said the Government’s investment in oil is a “genocidal policy”.

They said: “It’s time for a serious windfall tax on big oil, without the get-out-of-jail-free tax credits that will encourage more oil and gas that we cannot afford.

“Vulnerable people will be freezing to death in their homes this winter, unable to afford a can of soup, while his Government refuses to tax the rich and the big energy companies that are profiting from our misery.

“We owe it to our young people to stop fossil fuels, we owe it to our workers to create a just transition to a zero-carbon economy, we owe it to our old people to enable them to live with dignity.

“We are not prepared to stand by and watch while everything we love is destroyed.”

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This story was written by Sophie Perry. She joined the team in 2021 as a digital reporter.

You can get in touch with her by emailing: sophie.perry@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @itssophieperry

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