On Monday 28 November, 4 members of the Telford & Wrekin network joined 46 other activists from across the UK to witness the blockade of the Department for Transport in protest against their secret lobbying in support of Tar Sands and against an important piece of E.U. climate legislation called the Fuel Quality Directive.
This coincided nicely with the Energy Secretary, Chris Huhne jetting off to Durban, South Africa for the COP 17 United Nations Climate Change Conference, claiming a leading role in these talks. Meanwhile, other Lib Dem ministers are brokering secret deals with Canada to incorporate Tar Sands into our fuel supply chain, and massively contradicting the stance the UK government are taking in Durban, as well as ensuring we never hit E.U. Climate and Emissions targets. The hypocrisy in this situation in inexcusable and is exactly why Greenpeace have targeted them with this non violent direct action.
This was the first ‘proper’ direct action for Greenpeace I'd seen up close, and so, as we sat waiting for the go ahead, I was sat with a stomach full of butterflies, humming the Mission Impossible theme quietly to myself...then... GO, GO, GO!
As one volunteer got inside the revolving door in the front entrance, the doors were quickly wedged shut with 4 pieces of wood. Simple and easy and a success! The security looked a bit baffled, but then it was 7:30am and they probably hadn’t had their morning coffee by that time.
The rest of the activists got into their positions amazing quickly, and then they settled down, all in high spirits for pulling it off, to munch on cereal bars and drink as little water as possible!
You can see a video of how the action unfolded below.
This was not about a photo opportunity; this was about raising awareness of this issue to both the public who walked past us and to the employees in the Department for Transport who were probably none-the-wiser to the underhand negotiations that were happening from that very building.
All of the volunteers were eventually removed by the Police, with the volunteer in the revolving door being the last one to be taken away (revolving doors are baffling, apparently!) in the early afternoon.
Collectively they had made their message very clear, and hopefully, with all the international attention this issue has gained as a result of our direction action, and simultaneous demonstrations outside UK embassies across Europe, common sense will prevail and the secret negotiations with Canada will stop!
If you want to get involved with Greenpeace you can find out where your nearest network is here, come and join the fun (it's not just about non violent direct action), stand up for something you believe in and who knows, next time we witness something amazing like this, you could be joining us!
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