A Statue of Emmeline Pankhust got the Just Stop Oil treatment

Just Stop Oil supporters dressed the figure in a high viz vest and added a speech bubble reading “Deeds not words: Just Stop Oil”. These props were later removed by Highway Maintenance workers.

Emmeline Pankhurst, a leading British women’s rights activist, founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), an all-women suffrage advocacy organisation dedicated to “deeds, not words”.

The statue, ‘Rise up, women’ (Emmeline Pankhurst, 1858–1928), was created by award-winning sculptor Hazel Reeves and shows Emmeline standing on a chair addressing a mass demonstration. It is only the second ever statue of a woman in Manchester and was installed in St Peter’s Square in 2018 after the Moss Side-born suffragette was selected by public vote to be immortalised in bronze.  

In 2022, Helen Pankhurst, the great-granddaughter of Emmeline, wrote “My suffragette grandmothers are now seen as heroes. Today’s climate protesters will be too…Environmentalists of all forms have the moral high ground. I have absolutely no doubt that in 100 years’ time they will be seen as the real heroes. Those who ignored the warning bells will be – nay, already are – on the wrong side of history”.

The action follows the publication of the UN emissions gap report which confirmed that the continuation of current policies will lead to a catastrophic temperature rise of up to 3.1°C. Launching the report, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said “There is a direct link between increasing emissions and increasingly frequent and intense climate disasters. Around the world, people are paying a terrible price.”Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP said. “I urge every nation: no more hot air, please. Use the upcoming COP29 talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, to increase action now”.