Owen Jones has been accused of writing a “silly” article in which he says climate activists are being persecuted and silenced. The Left-wing commentator wrote that 2023 has seen a worldwide “onslaught” against those who protest for more action to address the climate crisis.
In the opinion piece published by the Guardian on Friday (December 22), Mr Jones wrote about “punitive” sentences handed down by British judges, citing the sentencing of climate activist Stephen Gingell who got six months in prison for taking part in a slow march.
He said 470 peaceful protesters had been arrested in one month with the aid of a raft of “authoritarian” measures introduced by the Government. Mr Jones cited futher examples in countries such as France and Australia as evidence of a legal crackdown on people calling for more action on climate.
The writer said there was “a calculated attempt” to claim the real extremists were not those who “imperil” our world’s future by fighting against policies aimed at limiting carbon emissions, but those who seek to prevent impending calamity.
Mr Jones wrote: “The truth is these climate activists are being targeted not because they are protesting in the wrong way or because their methods are counterproductive, but because they have secured such a considerable platform to make the climate emergency a more salient and discussed issue. Understandably, vested interests profiteering at the expense of the planet have every motive to shut them up.”
But Mr Jones’s article was branded “silly” on X, formerly Twitter, with user @TonyDowson5, tweeting from an account named Tony Dowson. Writing in response, the account said: “Silly article by Owen Jones.
“The climate protesters engage in illegal acts repeatedly – do so on bail – and now he complains of ‘persecution’ when they’re eventually given custodial sentences by independent judges.”
Mr Jones also claimed in his article that “punitive” sentences were dished out to Just Stop Oil supporters who unfurled a banner from a bridge over the River Thames. He cited a UN special rapporteur for suggesting the sentences may have breached international law.
But Mr Dowson, whose X bio includes the line “Legal Twitter’s nastiest anon troll”, said in response that the UN special rapporteur’s commentary was not “reasoned”.
Ian Fry, the United Nations’ rapporteur for climate change and human rights, has called Britain’s anti-protest law a “direct attack on the right to the freedom of peaceful assembly”. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dismissed the criticism, saying: “Those who break the law should feel the full force of it.”
Structural engineer Morgan Trowland was one of two activists who scaled the bridge over the River Thames in October 2022, forcing police to shut the route below for 40 hours. He was sentenced to three years in prison and was released early on December 13 after 14 months in custody.
In addition, Mr Dowson, whose followers on X include Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, quipped in response to Mr Jones’s claim climate activists are being persecuted for the size of their platforms: “Alternatively, it’s the whole committing crime thing.”
Green activists have blocked roads and bridges, glued themselves to trains, splattered artworks with paint, sprayed buildings with fake blood and doused athletes in orange powder to draw attention to climate change.
Groups such as Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain argue civil disobedience is justified, but Mr Sunak has called them “ideological zealots”.
A statutory offence of “public nuisance” was created in 2022, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The 2023 Public Order Act broadened the definition of disruptive protest, increased police search powers and imposed penalties of up to 12 months in prison for protesters who block roads or other “key infrastructure”.
In recent months, hundreds of Just Stop Oil activists have been detained under a new rule which criminalizes slow walking protests. Some protesters have received jail sentences which some have described as unduly punitive.
