Britain temporarily becomes Russia in imprisoning non-violent climate change activist for two years

Phoebe Plummer. Her X image.

NEWS AND COMMENT, UK: Of course this is my opinion. Share yours please. Many will disagree with me and they will be wrong. 😱 Britain has temporarily become Russia under Putin: a repressive state with a mindless, establishment judge hammering a couple of courageous protesters campaigning under the Just Stop Oil banner by imprisoning them for two years in the case of one protester and 18 months for the other for throwing Heinz soup over a Vincent van Gogh sunflower painting protected by glass in the National Gallery.

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Remember these two vandals who attacked Van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting back in 2022?

Justice has finally been served.

Phoebe Plummer received a two-year jail term at Southwark Crown Court, while Anna Holland was handed 20 months.pic.twitter.com/jeaVgzmJxO

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 27, 2024

They knew that the painting was protected by glass. The prosecution argument is that the soup MAY have damaged the 17th-century frame. We don't know whether it was or wasn't. I doubt whether it was damaged. We should know. 

So what they did was entirely visual. It was a visual statement and it worked in that sense. It has received lots of publicity but this government wants to stamp on perfectly respectful protests. Protests about climate change, which presents an extensional threat to the planet.

It is the young people of today who are nervous about the future because of climate change and other developments. The two women jailed for this extortionate amount of time for an entirely non-violent protest on a critical matter of importance to the survival of humankind are Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland. Plummer told the hearing at which she was sentenced to 2 years in prison that she will take the punishment on the chin and smile.

Want to know the real story behind Just Stop Oil and the people who support the campaign? Crowdfunding for Everything Is Fine is now live! Donate here: https://t.co/PT88vg3pNa https://t.co/0wVefZr3Pw

— Phoebe Plummer (@ziggystardyke) March 15, 2024

Given the existential threat of global warming, the actions of the Just Stop Oil protestors can be seen as just and proper, even if they broke the law in doing so. Their protest caused no physical damage, did not lead to disorder, and was motivated by a genuine concern for the future of the planet. Rather than being punished, these activists should be recognized for their role in raising awareness of a global crisis that demands urgent attention. Praising rather than punishing them would not only acknowledge the gravity of the climate crisis, but also send a message that civil disobedience in the name of a just cause is a vital tool for driving social and political change.

Lousy judge

I think she's a wonderful person. As is Anna Holland. The horrible judge, part of the establishment, who I would totally disrespect because of this unwarranted punishment, is Judge Christopher Hehir. He signalled beforehand that he would punish them severely and he has. A ghastly man. He is taking orders from the government, I would allege which is illegal.

He appears to have justified the punishment in saying the following. They crossed the line from "concerned campaigner to fanatic". In addition he said that the "cultural treasure" could have been "seriously damaged or even destroy".

That is entirely incorrect. This judge, I think, is showing his hatred for these protesters. He is allowing his emotions to affect his judgement which should be an objective process, a fair process. Yes, this couple of young women should be punished for causing minor, very minor criminal damage I would argue in the cause of a great protest but it should be a very mild punishment (a small fine) because their cause is critical to the survival of the planet.

The lawyer representing the couple said that they knew there was glass over the painting and therefore the painting would not be damaged. The judge got this entirely wrong.

New copy protest

And remarkably, three new Just Stop Oil protesters have now been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage after they threw some more soup over two versions of Vincent van Gogh's sunflowers at the National Gallery. This is a fresh protest in protest over the overly harsh sentencing of the couple of young women now languishing in jail.

This recent development is a great one. Judges can't go on imprisoning protesters and campaigners against the continued burning of oil and gas, exacerbating climate change, in the UK because firstly there are not enough spaces in prison to imprison these people because of a lack of prison construction over the years.

Madness of imprisonment

And secondly, this government has decided that imprisonment is not a good form of punishment. They recently released over 1,500 prisoners. These were men who committed real crimes. This government is releasing genuine criminals, often harden criminals, who are in and out of jail all the time and imprisoning people who are fighting for the survival of humankind! It is totally bonkers.

This new group of three Just Stop Oil activists been arrested and they made a good point. Their spokesperson, Phil Green, said that the 25 supporters of their group now currently in jail would be regarded by future generations as being "prisoners of conscience" and on the right side of history.

This is a good video. Important:

Tonight at 9pm on @Channel4

Climate breakdown is happening all around us – floods , fires , droughts , crop shortages . . . thousands of people are dying

So I ask a simple question – 'Is It Time to Break the Law to protest for the planet' ?#IrresponsibleAndReckless pic.twitter.com/6wFKW3oRpK

— Chris Packham (@ChrisGPackham) September 20, 2023

In future years we will look back at the imprisonment of these activists has wholly incorrect and unwarranted. We will look back at the madness of it. These people are doing something good. This should be praised. They have been forced into carrying out these dramatic protests in order to get the attention of the media and the government. If the government was doing something about global warming they'd be no protests. Just Stop Oil wouldn't exist if governments worldwide were doing their job and making genuine progress on protecting the planet.

The suffragettes’ struggle is an excellent analogy for today’s climate activism. Like the suffragettes, climate activists are working for a just and necessary cause in the face of institutional inertia and societal resistance. The harsh punishments they face today may one day be seen, as the suffragettes’ punishments are now, as unjust responses to moral bravery. Just as we now honor the suffragettes for their role in advancing human rights, future generations may honor today's environmental activists for their role in protecting the planet.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also, sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. And, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable. Finally, (!) I often express an OPINION on the news. Please share yours in a comment.

Judges jailing Just Stop Oil protesters are reactionary establishment figures

British judges are currently jailing Just Stop Oil protesters. Quite severe punishments. Sometimes utterly unreasonable punishments for peaceful protests. I wrote about that recently when Hallam, an organiser was jailed for five years and a couple of charming young ladies were jailed for four years each for chucking Heinz tomato soup on the frame of van Gogh's 'Wildflowers'. Yes, they were jailed for four years for chucking some Heinz tomato soup on a picture frame in a gallery.

So why are they doing this? It's because they are reactionary. Nearly all British judges come from the middle, middle/upper, upper classes in the UK. They are excellently educated. They go to the best schools and they go to Eton or Harrow after which they go to Oxford or Cambridge.

They become very successful barristers and KCs. They earn lots of money but if they want to become a judge they will have to accept less money but they enjoy the status of becoming a High Court judge or better. They receive a knighthood when they become a High Court judge.

They have high status. But they are part of the establishment. They are firmly part of the British establishment. And I believe a lot of them do not actually believe in climate change. A lot of people in the establishment in Britain don't firmly believe in climate change. They don't want their way of life altered which helps them to not believe in climate change. Their life is too good. They don't want anything upsetting them or their lifestyle. Climate change does negatively impact their lifestyle or will do for future generations.

And so because they want things to remain as they are, they don't like protesters who upset their way of life and tell them that things are going to get worse unless strong action is taken. And if they do have the temerity to upset their way of life in protesting they hammer them as hard as they can and issue overly zealous prison sentences for peaceful protests.

Another judge has done the same thing. He is judge Shane Collery KC (Kings Counsel). He sentenced George Simonson and Theresa Higginson to 2 years in jail apiece. Other protesters he's jailed for 22 months and 20 months. They pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to causing a public nuisance after they caused mass destruction by climbing gantries on the M25 motorway on November 9, 2022.

The judge said that the protesters were blasé about what they did. He thought the protests were a "curious way of seeking to influence the public opinion."

He added that "[You] considered you knew better than everyone else". Well, I'm gonna say that they do know better than everybody else and they have the courage to scream it from the rooftops. And it is judges like Shane Collery KC who don't understand what's going on. And if we could look back retrospectively in 50 years time at this judgement I think we would all agree that he was terribly wrong. 

That's because in 50 years time time global warming will be impacting the planet far worse than it is now and people at that future time will understand how brave these protesters were in providing the public with a warning for the catastrophe to come.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Unrelentingly kind, Oxford-educated mum got four years' jail because she rented a safe house to Just Stop Oil

OPINION: Louise Lancaster is described by Theo, her son, as "unrelentingly kind". He added that, "In almost any situation she will put others first." Louise Lancaster is the kind of person who is the backbone of  Britain.

She studied maths at Oxford. She is smart and decent and normal and is the kind of person that Britain should be proud of and protect. But she was jailed for four years because she rented a safe house for Just Stop Oil, the group campaigning against the government's inactivity to deal with climate change properly.

Louise Lancaster and family in a selfie. Image: Louise Lancaster on the left.

Other protesters were jailed for four years and the organiser, Roger Hallam, was jailed for five years. This was a peaceful protest. It is unheard of to be jailed for five or four years for a peaceful protest. Her ex-husband, Tim, said that she expected to be convicted and jailed and was prepared for it emotionally. And she prepared her family for it as well. Because she was thinking of others again.

Just Stop Oil protesters storm 18th green at Travelers Golf Championship (72nd hole)

Nevertheless the family was shocked at the sentence. Tim said: "To get a sentence that is way longer than you would get for violent crime [the average UK sentence for violent crime is 21.6 months]. It feels terribly unjust."

Destruction of democracy in the UK in silencing climate change campaigners

The sentencing took place under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 which was amended to allow for harsher punishments to these sorts of protesters. For people like me, the increased power to judges to hand out more severe punishments for peace protests is almost a fascist act. It's drifting towards a Russia-like situation. It's entirely unacceptable.

It did not come naturally for Louise Lancaster to be involved in a Just Stop Oil protest campaign. She just felt something had to be done about the lack of activity in dealing with global warming. She must have given it a hell of a lot of thought. Initially both Louise and her husband joined marches and signed petitions and wrote to their MP.

They thought people were noticing but they decided that they weren't and at one stage, Louise said to her husband: "Look, we did all of that and nothing changed. We have to do something else."

About 2020 she started to see non-violent direct action as a way of getting the government's attention. And so she became involved in Just Stop Oil's activities. It led to 4 years in jail which I would think will be commuted to 2 years or even less. She is quite happy to be in jail actually and has got her vegan diet organised in prison at last.

She has reassured her kids and has a smile on her face. When her kids saw her off when she went to prison they gave her a hug. Verity, her daughter, burst into tears while "Mum broke into a massive smile".

She told Verity that she was going to be fine and that she will be helping other women in prison fill out forms and would do some online courses and work on her pullups!

She is a lovely woman and this horrendous judge, Judge Christopher Hehir, did the government's bidding and put her in prison for four years because she rented a safe house for the campaigners. She also organised some climbing equipment. She was behind the scenes. She's now front and centre in the mainstream news.

And everything she's done and the punishment she received SCREAMS injustice. Britain has become an unjust place riddled with petty crime. The police don't tackle any shoplifting and they hardly tackle burglaries. Theft, fraud and even large-scale crime is rampant in the UK and it is undermining society. Almost none of it goes punished but Louise Lancaster was severely punished for trying to tell the government to do something about global warming. It is turning justice on its head.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Boycott China by not buying their cheap products any more to make a statement about the Yulin dog meat 'festival'

I agree with Phaedra on Twitter. With the Yulin dog meat festival around the corner (June 21st), today is a good day for all citizens in the West to boycott Chinese products manufactured in China. Billions of their products are bought by citizens of the West to support China. 

Sickening and abject cruelty. We must not accept it. We should make a stand and boycott Chinese goods. Image: Twitter.

I don't mind normal business but if people in the West want to make a statement about the objectionably cruel and barbaric dog meat 'festival' then they should stop buying Chinese products. That means checking whether it has been made in China or not. It means doing a bit of research and paying more perhaps for the same sort of product.

It'll be hard. But we can contribute to making the world a better place. And my God it needs to be improved especially, for me, concerning the lack of animal welfare in Asia.

RELATED: How can the 10-day dog meat market in Yulin be called a FESTIVAL!?

I think that we are addicted to cheap Chinese products. They do make some great products which is why online businesses such as Amazon sell billions of them. And I love Amazon. But, we should make an effort I think to put some pressure on China to change their attitudes and culture regarding the cat and dog meat businesses.

It's just too cruel to ignore. The governments of Western countries do not want to put any pressure on China to improve animal welfare in their country. It is, therefore, down to the citizens of these countries to take unilateral action. To do their little bit to put even a tiny bit of pressure on China. 

If millions of people stopped buying Chinese products it may achieve something. It is highly unlikely obviously because only about 10 people will read this post!! But something has to be done because every day, on Twitter, we see the barbaric human behaviour at the Yulin dog meat festival. We can't simply acquiesce to this. In acquiescing we are accepting it.

I know there is a cultural issue here. People say that people in one country should not get involved in the culture of another country. In general, I tend to agree with that except in exceptional circumstances as is the case with gross animal cruelty. In my mind this is a universal and global issue. It is up to anyone anywhere to criticise and become involved. This is about mother Earth not individual countries and their cultures.

Today is a good day to to #BoycottChina and stop shopping except for the most important items. Even the cheapest #Chinese items add up.#StopYulin

Save money, send a message. We do not accept ⬇️
⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ https://t.co/HiaQCN9AS6 pic.twitter.com/CWIN0XzwOI

— Phaedra (@PhaedraXTeddy) June 3, 2023

China - cowcat's torture and 'murder' has sparked a mass movement for animal welfare laws

Animal advocates protest in China for animal welfare laws sparked by the sadistic murder of 'cowcat'. Screenshot. The cat's picture is on the placard in the picture.

NEWS AND OPINION: As I understand it, "cowcat" is the name given by animal rights protestors in China to a stray cat who was hideously tortured and then murdered after three days. And I believe that the person who did this is notorious now in China. He is a food vlogger (makes videos about food preparation). 

He is also a horrendously cruel animal torturer specifically against stray cats. He has created, I believe, a video game app in which the players have to kill domestic cats in food blenders and other disgusting ways. And I believe that he runs a gang of Chinese people living in China who enjoy cruelly abusing, torturing and then "murdering" cats in sadistic ways.

He has various names and these are some of them: Xu Zhihui - Xu Mouhui - Jack Hot Strip - Jack Spicey Strip. His photo is above.

I have a quite lengthy page on this man which you can read by clicking on this link. There was an allegation that he was beaten up by a gang of other men. But I'm not sure that is accurate. It does indicate, though, that he is notorious in China.

The legacy that this sadistically 'murdered' cat might leave China is that Beijing introduces some sort of umbrella animal welfare laws to protect cats in the future. I would very much doubt that that will happen but it just might eventually happen if enough people for long enough protest and make the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) sit up and think about what they're doing.

The CCP refuse to enter the 21st century in terms of animal welfare protection. They prefer to remain in the dark ages and stick with tradition. The tradition of China 2000 years ago amounted to cruelty to animals and that tradition has been brought forward to the 21st century. It is time for it to stop.

The culture has to change and one way to change culture is to introduce laws which force people to change their ways and develop new habits: habits in which animals are treated as sentient beings to be respected.

Anal electrocution of animals in fur trade. Protest outside Dior.

LVMH owns Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Dior and other fashion brands. PETA tells me that they refuse to embrace faux fur to meet the demands of informed and compassionate consumers and continue to deal with real fur traders. The fur trade is viciously cruel. 

Anal electrocution of animals in fur trade. Screenshot.

It doesn't matter how you look at it. The whole concept is horrendous to any decent-minded person. China is the biggest producer and they treat their animals appallingly. It's bad enough to take the skin off the back of animals for f**k**g fashion but to kill them in the most appalling way is shameful, unforgivable and the work of the devil.

This protest took place this month. The tweet is dated May 16th, 2023.

PETA tells me that many animals on fur farms "slowly go insane and even self-mutilate from the stress of intensive confinement."

They say that an investigation into Italian fur farms revealed several injured minks as well as dead minks left inside cages to rot. The survivors were killed by gassing.

On a fur farm in Norway, investigators found six fox cubs confined to a cage with their dead and rotting mother. Foxes are devoted parents and mother foxes commit themselves to protecting their babies.

I can go on and on and on about the cruelty of the fur trade and it is the same no matter where you look. And the bosses at LVMH won't stop dealing in real fur. I've just visited a Dior products website. I don't know whether the fur coats were vintage or modern. It didn't say. But I'm told that they still produce fur garments.

What is sad for me, is that videos on YouTube and on Twitter of these protests don't get enough views. This tells me that not enough people are genuinely interested in protecting the animals from this horrendous cruelty. Perhaps Dior and their masters know this. They know that there is an apathy in the world about the fur trade and perhaps even animal abuse generally. That is why they can get away with it and brush the protesters aside.

The only way to beat it is to continually press and harass until they finally change their ways. Some people say that the big fashion houses have already changed their ways but clearly, they haven't. For example, one website forward.com asks "Are anti-fur protesters hopelessly out of touch?"

What on earth do they mean? There article was written in 2018. Protesters against fur farming will never be out of touch until it stops for good. The video on this page is horrendous. There's a guy on a megaphone telling people that the fur farm businesses electrocute the animals who give up their skin by sticking a probe up their anus or their vagina. I mean what in heavens name is going on in the world if humankind allows that to happen? It's just totally sick and all for the sake of fashion.

And here is another thing: the people, normally women who wear these garments are equally to blame. Why aren't they shunning these garments once and for all? They are accessories to what I would argue is a serious and mass crime. Of course, it is not a crime technically in most (all?) countries but in a better world it would have been. It is certainly deeply immoral.

Chinese citizens bravely protest to improve animal welfare in China

This page shows two separate incidents of Chinese citizens protesting about the lack of animal welfare in China. The first photos shows leaflets which were thrown from a high building (a tower block in an urban area). The report says that the person who did it lived in the block and as they walked down the stairs, they threw the pamphlets out of the window. 

Here is a better image:

We don't know exactly what the pamphlets say but they are to do with a desire to improve animal welfare in China. They may be concerned with the cat meat business in China which occurs in the south. I'm not sure but we do know that there are almost no animal welfare laws in China so it is fair to presume that the leaflets are demanding an improvement to the law.

In the second protest you can see a rather poor-quality video which was taken direct from my computer screen because I could not embed the video from Twitter (subsequently I was able to carry out the embed - see tweet below). It shows very brave women protesting about the lack of animal welfare laws in China as I understand it.

I say that they are brave because China is a democratic dictatorship of some sort. I'm not sure quite what it is but in effect it is a dictatorship. A one-party state. And I sense that it is difficult to protest about anything in China which concerns criticising the government. I suspect that they are always vulnerable to being arrested on a false pretext or some drummed up pretext in order to silence them. Any dissent by citizens is normally squashed pretty quickly in China as I understand it.

For me and I hope many others this is welcome news. These are well motivated people taking a risk on their health and welfare to help animals whose health and welfare is always at risk in China. The Yulin dog meat festival comes to mind as one example. There are many others. 

How can the 10-day dog meat market in Yulin be called a FESTIVAL!?

It is an international scandal that China refuses to introduce proper animal welfare laws as have been in existence for decades in the West.

#Beijing, China 🇨🇳 May 14th 2023

These Chinese activists are amazing 👏 👏👏

Thank you for speaking up for the #animals. So happy about this. Thank you very much. Animal protection law now!!#stopanimalcruelty #stopanimalabuse #cowcat #blendercat #animalprotectionlaw #China pic.twitter.com/K6bpOP98Jl

— We Are Not Food (@WeAreNotFood) May 15, 2023

The Communist Party don't want animal welfare laws as they go against the general attitude in China that animals are to be used. The government doesn't want to upset the citizens I guess and in any case the government agrees that animals are to be used and don't want interfering animal welfare laws and they don't care about how it looks to Westerners.

There is a horrendous couple of photos of a crucified cat being burned from I believe China. I am surprised Twitter allows them. I can't publish them here. I am appalled. 

Iran Protests

I am doing as asked by the Iranian protestors: spreading the word, doing my tiny bit. I have to do my bit and help the brave Iranians who are fighting against a dictatorship. It takes massive guts and some desperation to risk one’s life. I was amazed at some of the statements by the protestors. There was a women who said that she would put on her makeup and go out to the street to possibly die. I love that woman!

These are pretty tough videos to watch though, I warn you.

Here are some videos that I have selected. They are all recent either on or close to the date of this post.

These are seriously scary movies. You are just waiting for something horrible to happen.

It has virtually been proved that the elections were fraudulently manipulated (there were some doubts, amazing as that seems). Even the Iranian government has admitted that in a large number of regions the votes cast outnumbered the number of people in the region (the total electorate). They say it didn’t change anything but fail to mention that an example of major electoral fraud must lend huge doubts to the whole election. There were other examples of proven fraud. In one region a popular candidate who historically received a majority of votes received about 5% of the votes on this occasion. All the signs are that the election was rigged.

in fact, it is obvious the election was rigged. Why else would they kill and beat protestors? If it was a good election they would simply be transparent and demonstrate how well it was run. If it was a true democracy the government would let the protestors protest. That said in the UK the police act undemocratically. I hate the police everywhere!

Iran is not a democracy it is like Zimbabwe, a pretend democracy, a dictatorship dressed up as a democracy, the worst kind of government really. And the Iranians are smart people. They are highly educated and demand and deserve so much better.

G20 Summit affects Cats!

The G20 summit affects cats because it affects all of us and cats are a part of the family. I was in London today protesting at the Bank of England. There were about 4,000 people there. Many more were, I believe, expected. This was disappointing. A lot of the people were spectators, or part-time protectors and then there were the press. There were a mass of photographers. I myself was interviewed by Reuters about the G20 Summit. Despite the fact that all the corralled people at the time were being peaceful the police insisted on falsely imprisoning all of us (except the press) for several hours after the demonstration had effectively ended.


G20 Summit protest opposite the Bank of England, London (the City). Photo by Michael Broad. Please provide a credit if and when using it.

Despite my arguments with the police I was unable to leave the area in front of the Bank of England. No warning was given that we would be, in effect, imprisoned and many people were deeply upset by this. Out civil liberties were taken from us (freedom of movement) and the police refused to listen. The police were uncaring and showed no sign of behaving decently and with discretion. They could have made judgments about individuals and let them go home but no. Everyone was corralled into about 10 acres of roads in and around the Bank of England for about 3 hours or more. As stated this was false imprisonment, technically. Individual policemen failed to explain themselves. One policeman quoted something to do with a law which allows them to override the crime of false imprisonment. It was extraordinary to be imprisoned like this. The news later on television hardly mentioned it. Yet for the 4,000 people on the ground it presented a massive problem and for no apparent reason. The reason most protesters gave was to provoke a riot. I don't think that is true. The reason was because the police were intent on dividing up the protesters and quelling in, my opinion.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states:

• Article 13 - Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
• Article 9 - No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile

I think that there is an arguable case that government is in breach of these articles. I was at the protests because the G20 Summit affects cats and us all and I owed it to us and our cat companions to be there.



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