Dame Emma Thompson has backed Just Stop Oil, just days after the climate action group attacked Stonehenge with orange paint.
The actress led thousands of people in a Restore Nature Now march in London on Saturday, aiming to persuade politicians to put nature and climate first.
When asked if she supported Just Stop Oil, whose supporters also targeted private jetsO Magna Carta and the Duke of Westminster’s wedding this year, she said: “I think I support anyone fighting this extraordinary battle.”
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Dame Emma added: “We can’t get any more oil out of the ground. I mean, there’s a lot of discussion about that. And I know there are a lot of very complicated economic arguments about that.
“We have to leave all the resources in the ground, we cannot take them out of the ground.”
Emma Thompson led the march in London on Saturday
More than 350 charities, businesses and direct action groups joined Dame Emma in the protest, along with renewable energy tycoon and Labor donor Dale Vince and naturalists Chris Packham and Steve Backshall.
Packham said it was the first time that organizations from across the campaigning and conservation spectrum had come together, from the National Trust to Just Stop Oil.
Reflecting on the long campaign to achieve action on climate change, Dame Emma called it “extraordinary” as “we’ve known about this for decades and government after government have completely ignored the advice”.
“All the scientists are saying we are in deep, deep trouble,” she added.
Protesters gathered in Parliament Square. Photo: PA
The UK, she said, is “one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world”.
She added: “But we’re also one of the richest, so that’s not good for anyone.
“Anyone who has ever written about our country [has written] about the beauty of these islands and they are being plundered, polluted and destroyed at an unprecedented rate.
“We have to act now. There is not enough discussion about this. It has to be at the forefront of our policy at all levels.”
Environmental campaign troupe, Red Rebel Brigade, at the protest. Photo: PA
An insect model on the march. Photo: PA
Protesters marched from Hyde Park to Parliament Square, standing in line, led by Dame Emma and Packham, who held a banner reading Restore Nature Now.
Other banners carried different messages, including No life without wildlife and No reset button.
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From earlier this month: Just Stop Oil disrupts the Duke’s wedding
Part of the crowd booed and gestured as they passed Downing Street.
Gary Smith, a 64-year-old former veteran, said: “The booing was because they are useless in acting against any wildlife policies. It’s the booing of all politicians.”
While wildlife rescuer Sally Burns, 58, said: “The state of this country… it’s the politicians who run it and look at the state of it, a mess in many ways. It’s the people in power who have caused all this .”
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
