Protest & Survive: Keir Starmer & Just Stop Oil
Keir Starmer told LBC on 24th October that while Labour would issue no new oil or gas licences, a key demand of Just Stop Oil, he also backed Tory legislation that could see those involved with Just Stop Oil’s direct action protests jailed for up to 51 weeks.
The legislation introduced by Suella Braverman just before she was sacked as Home Secretary by the last Prime Minister is notably draconian in respect of non-violent protest which amounts to civil disobedience.
One may question how effective the tactics of Just Stop Oil are in achieving progress to their (mostly reasonable) demands. They attract a lot of publicity for the issue while of course causing a lot of disruption which impacts more on ordinary people than it does those in power. However they are at least protesting and making sure the issue is in the minds of politicians.
Keir Starmer started out as a civil rights lawyer but his current mindset seems conditioned by his period as Director of Public Prosecutions where he had a notably illiberal view of protest. Clearly his view is that change should come through Parliamentary means rather than pressure from without.
However neither the Labour Party or the labour movement would exist in their current form without a wide range of protests including direct action, riots and even occasional attempts at insurrection
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