A statue of Emmeline Pankhust, the suffragette leader, in Manchester got the Just Stop Oil treatment today with a speech bubble and high viz vest. Just Stop Oil is demanding that the UK government work with others to end the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030.
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”.