Ed Miliband’s London offices were blockaded this morning by a coalition of “red, green and black” activists in a demonstration of solidarity for the factory workers who have been occupying the Vestas wind turbine plant on the Isle of Wight since 20 July.
The occupation in Newport is protesting against the Vestas management’s decision to shut down the factory, cutting 600 jobs and representing a severe blow to the local community and to a green economy. The workers are currently entering their fifteenth day of occupation, calling for nationalisation and workers’ control of the factory.
The activists in Whitehall, holding placards saying “take back the wind power” and wearing red, green and black as a symbol of their diverse political viewpoints, glued themselves in a chain across the entrance of the Department for Energy and Climate Change, demanding that the factory be kept open.
The action marks the development of a new alliance between socialist and autonomist environmental campaigners which has been cemented by the Vestas solidarity campaign run by WCA. (savevestas.wordpress.com and workersclimateaction.wordpress.com).
Sophie Lewis, a WCA activist, said: “this is not the first time the world has seen an alliance between politically distinct groups under the banner of fighting climate activism. But Save Vestas is a narrative so potent that thousands nationally and internationally are rallying around it. Miliband must show real leadership on this one.”
This action comes a day before the Vestas management attempts to obtain an injunction to evict the workers.
Molly Grayson, one of the activists glued on, said: “Closing down the UK’s only wind turbine factory is an act of madness at a time like this. Climate change has to be tackled and in a recession green jobs should be the last to go. This is an issue which is so pressing that ordinary people of all political leanings are prepared to get arrested for it. I’m here today to show up Ed Miliband’s hypocrisy in promising a green revolution but falling flat at the first hurdle.”
UPDATE: The seven activists glued across Ed Miliband’s office entrance were told by police they wouldn’t be arrested. Having been unglued, they were then… arrested.
Police use illegal procedure to pull hands apart
The seven protestors who glued themselves to Ed Miliband’s London offices early this morning have been arrested under Section 69 by the Met Police. They have been taken to Belgravia station to be charged for aggravated trespass, and are to be released on bail later today.
The glued-on blockade were initially told they wouldn’t be arrested, were forcibly unglued without the aid of warm soapy water by a paramedic, who told them “it’s your own fault if it hurts” despite the fact that she wasn’t equipped to un-stick them. This occurred, and all seven were taken away, just after half past ten.
The action has been aired on Isle of Wight radio news, reported by the Isle of Wight Country Press, has gone viral on Twitter and Facebook, and has received attention from all main London news hubs. For the time being here is the IndyMedia report: https://london.indymedia.org/articles/1846
Interestingly, the Dept for Energy and Climate Change building apparently used to house the earliest Scotland Yard HQs, we learned today; so the Met Police were operating on familiar territory…
Sophielle