Ellie Ames 14 January 2025

Former council chief charged after Just Stop Oil protest

Former council chief charged after Just Stop Oil protest image
Image: Just Stop Oil

A former council chief executive is one of two Just Stop Oil protesters charged with criminal damage after powdered paint was sprayed on Charles Darwin’s grave yesterday.

On Monday morning, the words ‘1.5 is dead’ were sprayed on the gravestone in Westminster Abbey as Just Stop Oil demanded that the Government phases out the extraction and burning of fossil fuels by 2030.

The painted words refer to the news from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service last week that 2024 was the first year on record with a global average temperature 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels – the ‘safe’ warming limit agreed by world leaders in Paris in 2015.

Just Stop Oil identified Diane Bligh, 77 from Frome, as one of the protesters. Ms Bligh was chief executive of Reading Council from 1995-97, having previously worked as the authority’s director of housing.

The Met Police said Ms Bligh and 66-year-old Alyson Lee, a retired teaching assistant from Derby, had been bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court next month.

Ms Bligh said: ‘If we do not work together to reign in the corporations and billionaires driving us beyond our means, humanity will not be able to adapt to what is coming.

‘We are on course to lose everything, and politicians are doing nowhere near enough to prevent it.

‘How many will we have to bury as a result of climate breakdown and who will be left to mourn them?’

SIGN UP
For your free daily news bulletin
Highways jobs

PRINCIPAL TRANSPORT PLANNING OFFICER

Hull City Council
£43693 - £46731
We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced professional to join our team in Hull as a Principal Transport Planning Officer. Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire
Recuriter: Hull City Council

HIGHWAYS AND TRAFFIC ENGINEER - 4 POSTS

Hull City Council
£43693 - £46731
We have several exciting opportunities for suitably qualified Highways Civil Engineers and Traffic Engineers Wilson Centre, 1st floor, Hull HU1 2AG
Recuriter: Hull City Council

Strategic Director, Finance and Resources (S.151 Officer)

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
£110,799 - £120,706
Blackburn with Darwen is a distinctive, welcoming and vibrant borough with a strong identity and a genuine buzz about the place. Blackburn, Lancashire
Recuriter: Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council

Residential Worker, Edge of Care Service

Durham County Council
Grade 7 £29,093 - £32,654 PAY AWARD PENDING
Join a Groundbreaking Team Supporting Families in Seaham Salary
Recuriter: Durham County Council

Bikeability Cycling Instructor

Durham County Council
Grade 4 £24,790 to £25,992 pro rata (Pay Award Pending)
The Road Safety Team are keen to recruit additional Casual Bikability Instructors to join our team of instructors delivering Bikeability cycle trainin Durham
Recuriter: Durham County Council
Linkedin Banner