Now even the Beatles have got the Just Stop Oil treatment

An iconic statue of the Beatles in their hometown of Liverpool got the Just Stop Oil treatment with placards and high viz vests. Just Stop Oil is demanding that the UK government work with others to end the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030.

Just Stop Oil meets the Fab Four

At 8am on Thursday 24 October, Just Stop Oil supporters dressed the Beatles figures in high viz vests and added speech bubbles reading “Imagine there’s no oil” and “Hey Jude, let’s Just Stop Oil”:

This comes as people in France and Italy are cleaning up after the worst floods in over 40 years last weekend resulted in at least one death and scenes of devastation as houses and cars were washed away. This is just the latest in a long line of severe floods across Europe this summer.

It has prompted alarm amongst insurance industry bosses who are calling for government support. Meanwhile lucky residents of one Dorset town will be able to access emergency raincoats when their houses get washed away by floods.

The Beatles Statue was positioned on Liverpool’s Waterfront in December 2015, to coincide with the 50 year anniversary of the band’s last gig played in Liverpool at the Liverpool Empire Theatre. Donated by the famous Cavern Club and sculpted by Andrew Edwards, the figures are larger than life size and weigh 1.2 tonnes in total.

Big Oil has been burning the planet since the Beatles last played Liverpool

A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:

It’s been nearly 60 years since the Beatles last played in Liverpool and that’s about as long as Shell, Exxon and their captive politicians have known that burning more and more oil will lead to catastrophic warming. It is now clear that the collapse of human civilization and the death of millions if not billions of people means nothing to the psychopaths in charge.

To Paul McCartney we say, yes individual efforts are needed and yes not eating meat will help but without a lead from governments we are fucked. If governments won’t stop oil we need to replace them or we all die. Let’s come together, imagine there’s no oil, then make it happen.”

Politics is broken and we cannot rely on politicians to save us — not from poverty, not from the cost of living crisis, not from complete climate collapse. The Labour government doesn’t work for ordinary people, they work for corporations and billionaires, while supporting genocide in Gaza. It’s time to put this right. That’s why we’re calling on everyone to join us for a day of action on November 2nd.

Just Stop Oil says it stands “with our 24 supporters in prison, with the 1,800 victims of our broken criminal justice system imprisoned for over a year without trial and with the 1,700 murdered across the global south, for protecting all our lives”:

Everyone knows that politics is broken and we cannot rely on politicians (or judges) to save us — not from poverty, not from the cost of living crisis, not from complete climate collapse. The Labour government doesn’t work for ordinary people, they work for corporations and billionaires, while supporting genocide in Gaza. It’s time to put this right.

Just Stop Oil out on 2 November

You can join Just Stop Oil and others in Parliament Square on Saturday 2 November at 11:30am to take part in the Politics is Broken bloc at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s National Palestine March.

As a prefigurative day of action we will be actively inviting and welcoming a large number of groups to come together – including the climate and nature movements, Palestine solidarity, inequality and democracy movements to join forces and march on parliament and join us after at the Umbrella Rally, Banquet, Peoples Assembly, and After Party.

Read more on that here.

Featured image via Just Stop Oil