18th Oct 2024: Health workers stand in solidarity with Just Stop Oil activists to highlight the escalating Climate and Health crisis

Posted by: Alice - Posted on:

Three health workers unfurled a banner this afternoon in front of the Van Gogh Sunflower paintings which were recently covered in soup by Just Stop Oil protestors (1). The orange banner quoted Van Gogh reading “…reality is more important than the feeling for pictures”, followed by “For Health Sake Just Stop Oil”. It also displayed an image of a can of soup filled with an imitation of the artist Bansky’s “Dying Sunflowers from Petrol Station” and carrying the demand “Free Phoebe and Anna Now”.

Through their action today the health workers were seeking to 1) Highlight the obscenity of Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland’s recent sentencing, 2) Point out that Van Gogh himself prized nature above art, 3) Emphasise that the Climate and Nature crisis is a Health crisis, and 4) Ask the observer; What is it that you value most?

Phoebe Plummer (23) and Anna Holland (22) were imprisoned for 2 years, and 20 months respectively last month following their conviction for throwing tomato soup over the glass protection covering the National Gallery’s copy of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers in October 2022(2). The painting was not damaged, however, the gallery estimated that £10,000 of damage was caused to the frame which nevertheless continues to be used to display the painting.

The pair were sentenced amidst a series of controversial cases that have seen judges imprison non-violent protestors for anything from a few months to 5 years (3). These internationally condemned sentences (4) have been enabled by recently passed protest legislation and occur against a backdrop of anti-protest rhetoric spread by politicians (5) and the media (6). By comparison, 2 years is the maximum sentence for violently assaulting a police officer, and shockingly, Judge Hehir, the judge who sentenced Anna and Phoebe, has previously declined to imprison two brothers for a violent and unprovoked attack which left a policeman in hospital with a broken jaw (7). During recent climate protest trials Judge Hehir has also restricted defendants from speaking about their motivations stating, “Facing the end of the world is neither here nor there.” (8)

The climate and ecological emergency is recognised globally by health leaders, such as the UK medical colleges, as a health emergency (9), with over 200 international medical journals releasing a joint editorial in 2021 to urge world leaders to tackle the “catastrophic harm” that is set to result from the crisis(10). Moreover, direct action is being increasingly recognised internationally among the medical community as a necessary medical intervention to protect patients (11). Yet despite the stark warnings from health professionals, scientists, and even the government’s own cross-party committee on climate change, the UK government in 2021/22 launched a new policy of fossil fuel expansion (12).

Over 6 in 10 young people in the UK are very or extremely worried about the climate and ecological emergency, with government inaction increasing their sense of anxiety and betrayal (13). Yet, even as our government was itself being found guilty in court for failing in its legally binding commitments to achieve net zero (14), it was also forcing through legislation to criminalise and silence the voices of young people, like Phoebe and Anna, who acted in defence of their futures (15). The last piece of anti-protest legislation introduced by the then home secretary, Suella Braverman, was passed using “Henry 8th” powers in a move which has since been found illegal in the High Court (16). Shockingly, rather than accepting that the law was passed undemocratically the current Labour government is spending tax-payers money to appeal this decision.

The science is clear: We are facing an unprecedented health and social emergency as a result of the climate and ecological crisis. Given this reality, we can no longer accept a poorly informed political class, media and judiciary, who are furthermore subject to corporate lobbying. It is essential that our public officials are properly educated in the realities of the crises. This needs to be mandatory and written into law as it has been via Yolanda’s law in Argentina (17).  

Within the current reality of an escalating climate and nature emergency, can there be any greater betrayal of our young people, than to not only fail to take the action needed to safeguard their futures, but also to criminalise their voices and imprison them when they take peaceful action to highlight their concerns?

Free Phoebe and Anna and all other peaceful political prisoners in the UKs over-flowing prisons, and act now to educate our public officials on the climate and health emergency.

Action taker’s quotes:

Mary Light, 80, a retired nurse said:

Those complicit in destroying our beautiful world, including lawyers and oil execs, are free to continue to do so, and are even respected members of society. Meanwhile our young people feel compelled to raise the alarm and are being silenced by those in positions of power. Through our action today we hope to send our support and love to all these courageous young people, some of whom, like Anna and Phoebe, have been imprisoned for their non-violent actions.

Karen Rock, 62, a community mental health nurse said:

Our youngsters know the current trajectory for climate breakdown means they face a dystopian future and yet our leaders are prioritising silencing them over addressing the issues being raised. Our young people deserve better.  Our government needs to take decisive action based on the science and stop enabling the persecution of peaceful protestors. Phoebe and Anna should not be in jail for highlighting government failure.

Dr Alice Clack, 48, a consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist said:

“It is unbelievable to me that young people like Phoebe and Anna should be locked up for trying to emphasise what is most important. As wonderful as Van Gogh’s painting is, in the end, it is still a painting. Van Gogh himself recognised that nature and reality are more important than the feelings we have for paintings. Our health, and our planets health are all more important than any picture. As a doctor who practices evidence-based medicine it is clear to me that officials who fail to grasp the enormity of the climate crisis are not fit for public service.

Quotes in support:

“It is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to, the feeling for the things themselves, for reality, is more important than the feeling for pictures”

  • Vincent van Gogh.

We health workers stand side by side with the soup throwers and the blockers of the oil terminals and airports.  These young women are simply right, scientifically and morally right. Their prison sentences, longer than those for violent crime, must be urgently reviewed. We must hear their call to action.

  • Dr Juliette Brown, Consultant Psychiatrist, London

Health for XR’s published solidarity statement in response to the sentencing of Anna Holland and Phoebe Plummer: https://healthforxr.com/hxr-public-statement-in-response-to-the-sentencing-of-phoebe-plummer-and-anna-holland/ 

Press Contacts: Ali Rowe – 07901 916489 and Alice Clack – 07919 882 601

Media: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1li2VMSfo_sr4XnPLpSmevKt06yCuz80T?usp=sharing

Editor’s notes:

  1. 57 varieties of resistance: two paintings souped as Just Stop Oil supporters sentenced: https://juststopoil.org/2024/09/27/57-varieties-of-resistance-two-paintings-souped-as-just-stop-oil-supporters-sentenced/
  2. Sent down for throwing soup? Judge Hehir turns state suppression into an art form: https://juststopoil.org/2024/09/27/sent-down-for-throwing-soup-judge-hehir-turns-state-repression-into-an-art-form/ 
  3. Current political prisoners: https://rebelsinprison.uk/rebels/
  4. UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Aarhus Convention: https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2024-01/Aarhus_SR_Env_Defenders_statement_following_visit_to_UK_10-12_Jan_2024.pdf 
  5. Suella Braverman calls pro-Palestine demos hate marches: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/oct/30/uk-ministers-cobra-meeting-terrorism-threat-israel-hamas-conflict-suella-braverman
  6. Analysis: Record opposition to climate action by UK’s right -leaning media: https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-record-opposition-to-climate-action-by-uks-right-leaning-newspapers-in-2023/
  7. Broken Britain: Judge Christopher Hehir’s bizarre sentencing record demands Investigation: https://politicalcleanup.wordpress.com/2024/07/20/broken-britain-review-judge-christopher-hehirs-bizarre-and-unjust-sentencing-record/
  8. Campaign against climate change: https://www.campaigncc.org/resist_police_bill
  9. Treat the climate and nature crisis as one indivisible global health emergency: https://ukhealthalliance.org/news-item/time-to-treat-the-climate-and-nature-crisis-as-one-indivisible-global-health-emergency/
  10. Climate crisis: Over 200 health journals urge world leaders to tackle “catastrophic harm”. https://www.bmj.com/content/374/bmj.n2177  
  11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnJj7XwxlYk&t=86s
  12. 33rd offshore licensing round: https://www.nstauthority.co.uk/regulatory-information/licensing-and-consents/licensing/#:~:text=33rd%20Offshore%20Licensing%20Round,licences%20on%2012%20January%202023.
  13. Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(21)00278-3/fulltext
  14. Britain’s climate action plan unlawful, high court rules: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/03/britain-climate-action-plan-unlawful-high-court 
  15. Amnesty International: UK Freedom of Expression and Assembly https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/europe-and-central-asia/western-central-and-south-eastern-europe/united-kingdom/report-united-kingdom
  16. UK Court Rules Anti-Protest Measures Unlawful: https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/29/uk-court-rules-anti-protest-measures-unlawful
  17. Yolanda’s Law: https://climate-laws.org/document/yolanda-law-no-27592_708b