okwithmydecay

Millions of people across Britain are seeing the NHS left in tatters, benefits slashed and energy bills skyrocketing. They face a cost of living crisis while the billionaires keep getting richer.

That’s why a coalition of groups are marching through London this Saturday under the banner “Make Them Pay”.

The Labour government is set to impose even harsher austerity policies in this autumn’s budget. Instead, the coalition is calling for a tax on the super-rich, investment in well-paid, unionised jobs and action to tackle climate breakdown.

Far right groups like Reform UK want to blame environmental policies for high energy bills and job cuts in steel and manufacturing. At the same time the likes of BP laugh all the way to the bank as they report profits in the billions and pour money into oil and gas to please their shareholders.

Izzie McIntosh, Campaigns and Policy Manager at Global Justice Now and Make Them Pay organiser told Socialist Worker, “Saturday’s demonstrations will unite people from across climate, workers’ rights and social justice movements in a demonstration of our shared struggles.

“With far-right protesters taking over our capital last weekend, it’s more important than ever that we stand united as communities, and highlight that the only minority destroying our country is the super-rich.

“As our government fails to take action to improve people’s lives or persuade people not to turn to the far right, we will make ourselves heard and demand a society that protects the people who keep it running, not the rich and powerful.”

Saturday’s march is supported by dozens of organisations including the PCS, FBU and NEU unions, the Green Party, the Peace and Justice Project, environmental groups and many other charities and campaigns.

The Campaign Against Climate Change (CACC) is one of the groups supporting the march.

Claire from CACC told Socialist Worker, “There is a backlash against climate action from the right. Ordinary working people are described as oppressed by ‘net zero’ policies.

“This misleading narrative helps the fossil fuel companies twice over. It distracts attention from their own vast profits, pocketed from high energy bills as prices rose. It also delays climate action and the inevitable competition they face from cheap renewable energy and a clean energy system.

“The ‘Make Them Pay’ demo aims to put the focus back on the billionaires and polluting corporations who are destroying our planet, and also to present a positive vision for a fairer future, which is essential if we are to successfully confront the far right.”

At the TUC union federation congress earlier this month, unions reaffirmed their support for a concerted year of climate action among workers. The motion demands a just transition away from fossil fuels.

It called for days of action on 14 November 2025 and global day of solidarity on 15 November 2025, during the Cop30 international climate talks in Brazil.

An amendment said that “a future fossil fuel production can only be ended when and where a fully funded workers’ plan for jobs has been agreed and delivered in full”.

Sarah Woolley from the BFAWU union, moving the original motion, criticised this for giving “too much wriggle room to the fossil fuel lobby and to governments that have already dragged their feet for too long”. She argued we can’t delay taking action while we wait for a plan to be delivered. However, the motion was carried including the amendment.

Claire added, “In this mobilisation and in the year of trade union climate action coming up we need to see trade unionists alongside climate activists, making it clear that the climate crisis is a working class issue that affects us all, and demanding action.”

Join the demo on Saturday 20 September, 12 noon, Portland Place, London

The far right has clung to the narrative that anti-migrant protests and mass flag operations are being run by everyday Brits, consisting of ‘concerned parents’ and mild-mannered patriots. Protesters claim they oppose immigration due to the supposed increase in crime which comes from allowing people seeking asylum into the community; they are not racist, they are simply concerned about local people.

However, HOPE not hate can reveal that many of the individuals leading anti-migrant movements possess their own criminal records and are perfectly comfortable with threatening or enacting violence on locals who disagree with their views. Organisers of Operation Raise the Colours have quickly shown their true intentions in a flurry of racist abuse and property damage. Clearly, criminality only worries these ‘local residents’ when the perpetrator is not white.

The three people, including two in their 70s, were arrested following a protest in Parliament Square, Westminster, on 5 July.

Jeremy Shippam, 72, of Yapton, West Sussex, Judit Murray, 71, of West Ewell, Surrey, and Fiona Maclean, 53, of Hackney, north east London, are charged with displaying an article in a public place, arousing reasonable suspicion that they are a supporter of a proscribed organisation, under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Today they entered not guilty pleas at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

The court heard they held placards that read: "I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action."

Maclean, wearing earrings decorated with watermelons, and other defendants, spoke to confirm their names, ages and addresses.

Supporters of the defendants gathered outside court before the hearing, with some carrying Palestine flags and holding placards. A ban on Palestine Action has been met with protests

The plea hearing was delayed briefly to search for a hearing loop for some of the defendants.

The group have been released on unconditional bail by Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring, and will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on March 16 for a trial listed for three days.

Mr Goldspring told the defendants: "This will take place on March 16, 17, and 18 so I'm going to release each of you on bail until March 16 when you have an obligation to attend this court.

"Between now and then you are on unconditional bail."

It comes after Palestine Action was banned as a terror organisation in July, after the group claimed responsibility for an action in which two Voyager planes were damaged at RAF Brize Norton on 20 June.

It comes as the Home Office plans to appeal a High Court ruling that allows Palestine Action's co-founder, Huda Ammori, to proceed with a legal challenge against the Government over the ban.

Ms Ammori took the action against the department over then-home secretary Yvette Cooper's decision to proscribe the group under anti-terror laws.

The decision by Ms Cooper made membership of or support for the group a criminal offence by up to 14 years in prison.

It has sparked anger and protests since.

Three Just Stop Oil supporters were found not guilty of public nuisance at Guildford Crown Court today, after peacefully climbing gantries on the M25 in 2022, to demand an end to new fossil fuel projects.

Sam Holland, Rachel Payne and Isabel Rock took action on the M25 on 9th November 2022. They were among scores of Just Stop Oil supporters, who climbed on gantries that week in order to sound the alarm about the government’s plan to licence over 100 new oil and gas projects against all expert advice.

After a 5 day trial, the three were found not guilty of intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance by a unanimous verdict.

During the trial the prosecution emphasised that this was a planned and coordinated action that resulted in significant delays to the travelling public, that all three defendants were trespassing in a place that was forbidden to the public and that they had taken considerable risks with public safety. Giving evidence National Highways Ltd claimed that traffic was delayed by between 4 and 5 hours and that between 9,000 and 30,000 vehicles were impacted. None of the defendants denied the indictment, but they argued that they had a reasonable excuse for their actions.

Sam Holland argued that he had wanted to prevent harm. He had read academic papers which pointed to catastrophic consequences for humanity from burning fossil fuels, including food system collapse.

Rachel Payne explained that she took action because she was fearful for her children and grandchildren about government inaction on the climate crisis. She highlighted the government breaking its 2015 climate agreements by offering new fossil fuel licences.

Isabel Rock said that she felt a duty to look after people younger than herself and that the climate crisis is going to touch every single part of their lives. Taking action was something she weighed up very seriously and that as a self employed person, she knew how hard it was for people to earn money and to get by. However she felt that if they could see some of these agreed facts about the seriousness of the climate crisis, she hoped they would understand.

The Judge, Recorder L Harris, ruled that it was for the jury to decide whether or not the supporters had a reasonable excuse for their actions.

In their closing speeches, all the defendants were able to refer to the agreed facts in the case, which included several key facts relating to the climate crisis.

In his closing speech, Sam Holland said:

“We brought evidence on the largest evil committed in human history: the continued drilling and burning of oil and gas in full knowledge that large parts of humanity will be killed. The prosecution has said that these are beliefs. They are not beliefs. This is not a cause. This is not another ‘issue’. This is billions of deaths. Not according to me, according to the world’s leading scientists. These are the facts. If we hit 3C of warming by 2050, there could be four billion human deaths. Half of the world’s current population.

“What was the UK government doing? It was issuing over 100 new licences for companies to explore and drill oil and gas in the North Sea. In the knowledge of everything I’ve just said, which is public knowledge and has been known for decades, the government was still wanting to drill. Unimaginable evil. We all talked about how we had extensively tried other methods for making change. Signing petitions, emailing MPs, going on conventional marches… So we had to turn to disruptive action.’

“It is causing disruption that pressures the government to act – civil disobedience works by the very fact that it is disruptive. I feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility to do everything I can to stop this from happening. Once you learn about this stuff you can’t unlearn it. We have a very narrow window of time now to change the course of history. This is what I have tried to do by taking this action.”

Following the verdict, Rachel Payne said:

“I thank the members of the Jury deeply for their ‘common sense’ verdict — they were actually permitted to hear the several climate related agreed facts, which were read out to them, about the severe threats the present emergency poses to our world and they listened!

I thank the prosecution for agreeing to those facts following earlier trials I attended in which the ‘whole truth’ was repeatedly denied to the Jury. I thank the Judge for allowing them to decide that we “more likely than not” had a reasonable excuse for what we did.

In my statement to the police, I urgently expressed my fears for my family and world and my hopes for an ‘eco-U- turn’. With this acquittal, I feel this may be closer to being made possible. The tide may well be turning if the agreed facts on climate, allowed in this trial, can become widely known and acted upon internationally.”

In 2024 Just Stop Oil successfully won its original demand of ‘no new oil and gas’ and on March 27th 2025 announced an end to the campaign of action. However, our supporters will continue to tell the truth in court, to speak out for our political prisoners and to help build what comes next.