Sian Berry, the Green Party candidate for Mayor of London, has expressed relief at the suspended sentences given to the 13 climate-change protesters found guilty of chaining themselves to a runway at Heathrow Airport.
“I’m very glad these peaceful protesters are not going to jail, as we had feared they would,” said Sian, who was at court supporting the Heathrow 13 again this morning and is the only mayoral candidate to have actively supported them. “That would not only have been unjust, it would also have backfired on the government and the Establishment who want to build a third runway. In any event I believe more and more members of the public are going to flock to this cause and this runway will never get built.
“I was in court to support the Heathrow 13 during their trial and I heard the many character references that were given, showing how these are conscientious, caring and kind people whose longstanding commitment to the cause of stopping catastrophic climate change led them to take this action.
“By stopping the emissions from Heathrow for a morning they made a real difference. Their actions were only necessary because of the betrayal we have seen from the Prime Minister, who promised no new runways before he was elected, but has now made plans to expand the airports around London anyway.
“Many millions of lives are at stake if we don’t keep climate change within safe limits, and many thousands of people die already every year in London from air pollution. We should commend not condemn the people who are willing to take action when democracy fails.”