COP26 PROTEST, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 5.00 pm SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT
Edinburgh COP26 Coalition is protesting at Holyrood on Wednesday, 5pm – 6.15pm because BP is inside spreading greenwash to MSPs, by promoting themselves as the solution to the climate crisis they continue to create.
BP promises net zero by 2050, that is 20 years too late. The United Nations have stated 2030 is the last chance for net zero, after which fossil fuels will have pushed the world well beyond the critical 1.5 degrees centigrade limit.
Bernie Looney, BP’s CEO celebrated ‘higher throughput’ generating £3,3 billion profit in the last quarter of 2021 compared to £86m the year before. Combined with Shell they produce 1.7bn tonnes of greenhouse gases per year. Yet BP paid no corporation tax on North Sea oil 2018-20.
The corporations driving ecocide should not be welcomed but shown the door. They are knowingly endangering humanity’s future. If BP is sincere about net zero, it will immediately announce that its new Vorlich oilfield in the North Sea will not be further developed.
The public is invited to join our peaceful protest. As Greta Thunberg put it, we had enough ‘blah, blah, blah’ in Glasgow: Keep Edinburgh out of it.
JOIN THE RIC CONTINGENT ON
THE COP26 INDEPENDENCE BLOC
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6th, 12 noon
Gather at the Lord Roberts monument, Kelvin Grove Park
for location see https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lord+Roberts+Monument/@55.8703184,-4.2818544,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x5c1835a9062d00a3!8m2!3d55.8703184!4d-4.2818544)
COP26 EVENTS
Coach Travel to Mass Mobilisation in Glasgow on Saturday 6 November
Cost: £15 solidarity price, £10 regular price, £1 low waged etc. Get your coach tickets here:
Click on this link:
Or cut and paste this link:
HOST A CLIMATE JUSTICE GUEST
Here is a report from one of the Coalition activists: “I looked this up and eventually managed to fill in their form. Almost immediately I had a request from a young German woman who wants a bed for 3 nights, 4th – 7th November. There is a waiting list of 3,000 people from around the world desperate for accommodation. SO, if you have any space at all, do please consider putting someone up and contacting this network. For most of the time, they will just need a bed and an early breakfast, and maybe some help on the first day to get to the bus station. They will be given other meals in Glasgow.
Climate strike, Edinburgh, Friday 29th October
Fridays for Future Edinburgh school strike for climate justice, 2 days before COP so anyone who can’t make it to Glasgow can protest.
https://facebook.com/events/s/school-strike-for-climate/399658455201284/
Halloween, Sunday Oct 31, STOP CLIMATE HORROR
Assemble 10.30, The Meadows. The march will leave around 11am and be heading along the bridges and down the Royal Mile before ending at the Parliament by around 1pm.
https://www.facebook.com/events/616361926221096
For wider events see: Global Justice event at-
DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST THE HOLYROOD PROTEST BAN
Edinburgh RIC has received the following information about
Demonstrations Against the Holyrood Protest Ban
The Scottish Parliament belongs to us, the Scottish people, not to the politicians. We should have the right to protest there without fearing criminal prosecution. Sadly, the democratic right to peaceful protest is under threat across the UK and Scotland is no exception.
From October 1st, the buildings and grounds of the Scottish Parliament will be designated as a “Protected Site” under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, meaning it will be a criminal offence, punishable with up to a £5,000 fine or 1 year in prison, to be present “without lawful authority”. The only other site in Scotland with the same protected status under SOCPA is that other noted tourist attraction, Faslane nuclear base!
This law has been made by the UK Home Office at the request of the SPCB, the committee of 5 MSPs which runs the Parliamentary estate. It’s a law made in Westminster, not Holyrood, though the Scottish Parliament has the power to reverse it. Legal experts have given their opinion that the law violates the European Convention of Human Rights (EHCR) and that protestors would have a good chance of defeating any conviction in court. But how many people will be in a position to assume the cost and risk of such a legal action?
The effect of this law is to give police a big stick with which to threaten protestors. It won’t be a question of mass arrests, but of “managed protest” where protestors are told what they can do, where they can stand, what messaging is allowed, etc., under threat of arrest.
In the run-up to COP26, what politicians fear most is protestors holding them to account for their failure to tackle the climate crisis. When politicians seek to ban protest, it’s because protest works — not because it disrupts the democratic process, but as a fundamental democratic right and a vital part of that process.
Demonstrations against the Ban
Thursday 30th September, 11am
(the day before the ban comes into effect)
No Protest Ban at Holyrood – rally at Parliament
Facebook Event
Saturday 2nd October, 11am
Embrace our Parliament!
To surround Parliament with a ring of people holding hands, to exercise our democratic right to protest and to stop the Holyrood protest ban.
EMBRACE OUR PARLIAMENT
OCTOBER 2 @ 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Surround the Scottish Parliament with a ring of people holding hands, to protest against the designation of Holyrood as a “Protected Site” under SOCPA, making protest a criminal offence.
The messaging for this action is simple: The Scottish Parliament belongs to us, the Scottish people, not to the politicians. We should have the right to protest there without fearing criminal prosecution.
If you feel strongly about this, get along to our Parliament on Saturday 2nd October at 11 am and show your dissent. Meet up at at the grassy amphitheatre in front of parliament (see map link).
Edinburgh RIC Zoom Assembly
Wednesday 29th September, 7pm
THE SNP-GREEN ALLIANCE –
IS IT A WAY FORWARD?
Alex Staniforth – City of Edinburgh Green Councillor
Craigentinny & Duddingston
Tejas Mukerji – SNP Socialists
contact edinburghric@gmail.com
SAVE OUR CARE HOMES
PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION, 28.9.21, 9.30, EDINBURGH CITY CHAMBERS
| UNISON will be hosting a public demonstration outside the Edinburgh City Chambers on Tuesday 28th September from 9.30am as we continue to put pressure on decision makers to #SaveOurCareHomes. The story so far: https://unison-edinburgh.org.uk/care-workers-launch-campaign-to-save-edinburgh-city-council-care-homes/ The demo will coincide with the meeting of the Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board (EIJB) meeting taking place at 10am. |
Edinburgh Radical Independence Campaign 