Two women arrested on suspicion of criminal damage after protest at Westminster Abbey in London. Just Stop Oil (JSO) supporters have spray-painted “1.5 is dead” on Charles Darwin’s grave after confirmation that last year was the first to breach the important global warming threshold.
Two people used chalk paint on the naturalist’s grave in Westminster Abbey, London, at about 9.30am on Monday, the climate protest group said. Alyson Lee, 66, a retired teaching assistant from Derby, and Di Bligh, a 77-year-old former chief executive of Reading council, from Rode in Somerset, were involved in the action, JSO added.
The Metropolitan police confirmed two women were arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage “with what is believed to be powdered paint at Westminster Abbey”. A spokesperson for the church said they did not anticipate there would be any permanent damage and its doors remained open for worshippers and visitors.
Police led two women away from Westminster Abbey after the protest. Lee said: “We are trying to get the government to act on climate change. They are not doing enough.”. Bligh said: “We’ve done this because there’s no hope for the world, really. We’ve done it on Darwin’s grave specifically because he would be turning in that grave because of the sixth mass extinction taking place now.”.
