Protesters say they plan to step up their campaigning in a bid to stop Liz Truss’s government doubling down on oil and gas extraction, which experts say will do little to help the cost of living crisis while exacerbating the climate emergency . Trade unionists and cost-of-living campaigners are set to march in London and other cities across the UK on October 1, while direct action groups including Just Stop Oil say they will “occupy Westminster”, with supporters risking arrested to block streets with “a wave of action including strikes and sit-ins” throughout the month. Zarah Sultana, a Labor MP and a leading figure in the union-backed Enough is Enough campaign, said the energy crisis and the escalating climate emergency had the same root causes. “Tras is doubling down on the broken system that keeps bills, billionaires and CO2 soaring while wages are slashed. People just won’t put up with it. Enough is enough. From trade unionists fighting for living wages to climate activists, this autumn we will see a wave of action to force change.” Truss announced plans on Thursday to boost oil and gas extraction in the North Sea and lift a ban on fracking. Experts say this would have little impact on the cost of living crisis and would be disastrous for the UK’s legally binding climate targets. Truss’s new chancellor, Kwasi Kwartang, wrote an op-ed earlier this year stating that “no amount of shale gas … dotted across rural England would be enough to lower the European price any time soon”. Hannah Martin, from the Green New Deal Rising campaign, which has challenged top politicians over climate inaction over the past year, said the coming months would be critical in trying to force the government to move to a low-carbon system, more equitable and sustainable economy. “As we head into one of the worst cost-of-living crises this country has ever seen, young people are organizing. We will continue to take to the streets, interrupt government meetings and put politicians on the spot publicly to get answers.” He called on opposition parties to “submit a plan that offers a truly different vision for the future.” “This conference season needs to see Labor and the SNP go further with bold and visionary plans for a Green New Deal.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Protesters taking to the streets this autumn face a much tougher public order policing regime, following the passing of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act earlier this year. The first test of this bill was due to take place on Saturday, when the Extinction Rebellion had vowed to occupy Hyde Park for a three-day “festival of resistance” – a plan shelved after the Queen’s death. Tessa Khan is director of climate group Uplift and co-founder of Warm This Winter, a coalition of charities such as Oxfam and Save the Children and feed poverty and climate campaign groups, who are demanding the government do more to tackle the cost of living crisis. He said the government’s apparent intention to double down on oil and gas exploration and push ahead with fracking was “a challenge and a real opportunity” for the climate movement. “There is so much at stake for people when it comes to spiraling energy bills that it will be difficult for the government to get away from plans that are clearly not going to tackle the root cause of the problem and that just lock us in. in the same bust system. This can no longer be dismissed as campaigning for a future abstract threat, it is for the material reality of people’s everyday lives.”
