Just Stop Oil activists barricade themselves inside Scottish fuel terminal

The group started targeting the UK’s oil supply on 1 April, calling on the government to halt new oil and gas production

Just Stop Oil supporters photographed at the Glasgow oil terminal (Just Stop Oil)

Climate activists Just Stop Oil says they have disrupted operations at a key Scottish oil terminal by blocking the entrance and climbing on top of tankers.

In its latest action, the group said that at around 4am on Tuesday 40 of its supporters barricaded the entrance to an oil terminal in Glasgow. Others entered the terminal and locked themselves high up to parts of the site, it said.

The group said it was taking action in support of its demand that the UK government immediately halt all new oil and gas licencing and production. It is the group’s first attempt to block an oil terminal in Scotland since it started targeting the UK’s oil supply on 1 April.

Neil Rothnie, 69, a retired offshore oil and gas worker from Glasgow and supporter of Just Stop Oil, said oil and gas would not offer energy security.

“The North Sea oil and gas industry has one priority and it is not the climate crisis,” he said in a statement released by Just Stop Oil. “It’s not the future of North Sea oil and gas workers. And it’s certainly not whether the poor can stay warm.”

“If the government was serious about a just transition we would be seeing it here in Scotland,” he added.

In a statement issued shorlty after 6 pm, Chief Superintendent Lynn Ratcliff said officers had been talking to the protesters at the site since 4.10 am on Tuesday.

Ch Supt Ratcliff said the police had asked the activists to end their protest and allow a return to normality but that the incident was still ongoing and “a number of people” who decided not to cooperate had been arrested.

“As a rights-based organisation, Police Scotland puts our values of integrity, fairness, respect and a commitment to upholding human rights at the heart of everything we do,” she said.

“This means that we will protect the rights of people who wish to peacefully protest or counter-protest, balanced against the rights of the wider community.”

A Scottish government spokesperson said the government’s position was clear that unlimited extraction of fossil fuels is not consistent with its climate obligations.

“The Scottish Government is committed to creating, supporting and monitoring green jobs,” the spokesperson said. “We are determined to take advantage of the economic and job opportunities offered by the offshore wind sector - helping Scotland to secure a truly just transition to net zero, with no person or region left behind.”