Useful Links
We are trapped by a surfeit of media which leaves us feeling confused and powerless. What can “little old me” achieve ? Who knows, but the world has been changed before by small numbers of people. There is the joy of resisting death and despair, and doing the right thing, following the way of the saints.
On this page you will find links to useful science sites, some informative and inspiring videos, some Christian resources and some of my writing.
To inspire you (these videos have inspired me)
The recent Channel 4 programme with Chris Packham is a must see.
See links to the latest on the Just Stop Oil website
Assistant Professor of PhilosophyCarmody Grey and Roger Hallam Ethics and Civil Resistance. Carmody is so clear and so powerful. She also writes for the Tablet. Also more recently Carmody Grey and others (2023). Also see Carmody Grey and Justin Kenrick on courage. Revd Sue Parfitt, Ruth Jarman and other members of CCA feature in this Christians in Court from 2021.
The Revd Sue Parfitt from Bristol is an inspiration. Here she is in the film “Not less than everything” She has written an excellent book Bodies on the Line which you can buy here. She also revised John Dear’s classic book The Sacrament of Civil Disobedience.
This interview outlines how we have a civic and legal duty to resist - Right to life and Revolution with Tim Crosland. Tim and others are involved in the group of lawyers - Lawyers are Responsible - who refuse to take legal work from the fossil fuel industry or from the state prosecuting the likes of me. Recently I was amongst those who sat outside my local crown court in silence in support of the right of juries to follow their conscience. See the new campiaign Defend our Juries.
Do watch the XR video with Roger Hallam, Rowan Tilly and the Freedom Riders This was an inspiration for many of us who supported Insulate Britain in 2021 . In society today Gandhi and Martin Luther King are lauded and on the school curriculum - but when nonviolent civil resistance is put into practice today, you get arrested !
This interview from Novara with Aaron Bastani and Roger Hallam may help those of us who have doubts and questions as to the rightness of civil resistance at this time. We can always find excuses not to get involved. (makes me think of that famous excuse “I’ve just got to go and bury the dead”). This interview of Roger Hallam with Nick Robinson from October 2023 gets very close to the crux of the matter.
Also worth listening to is Peter Carter, IPCC reviewer, George Monbiot survival requires resistance, and Professor Sir David King. The director of the film Don't Look Up - Adam McKay is a great supporter of this work. The movie Don’t Look Up is a must see - on Netflix
Roger Hallam and Zak Goldsmith were interviewed in late 2023 and found a lot of common ground.
Science
Some important recent papers
The human climate niche
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/22/global-heating-human-climate-niche
Quantifying Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Human Deaths to Guide Energy Policy
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/16/6074
Just have a think is a very good series of well researched programmes.. This episode is on global food crisis
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My story of resistance
My first crown court trial began on 23 January 2023, 15 months after the Insulate Britain roadblock which resulted in me being charged with Public Nuisance. After the trial I wrote a summary for Bishop David who had kindly given me a character reference.
The previous Bishop of Bolton asked me to join the Manchester Diocesan Environmental Working Group on which I served for about 2 years.I resigned because the framework for environmental action was much too narrow, focussing as it still does, on individual and parish action. Here’s a letter to the EWG I wrote in 2021.
I have thought a lot about ideas of duty and public service. It did not feel like an exaggeration to say “Boris is betraying the people”, when talking to journalists. This article published in Christian Today raises the question of who or what we are loyal to. For me as a Christian and a priest,I am loyal to God, who is Truth and Love.
I pray before actions. I never seem to cease to get anxious. Mostly my praying is unseen but here I am reading the Magnificat outside Kingsbury Oil terminal.
The first time I was in the High Court (May 2022) I spoke to the judge about Jesus the Good Shepherd. The second time, (in September 2022) I spoke on the theme of Choosing Life. My Christian faith nourishes and challenges me, and whilst referring to a higher law may not work as a legal defence it sustains me.
I would love more of my fellow priests to be engaged in civil resistance. This interview with the previous Bishop of Bolton is encouraging.
In January 2023 I was found guilty of public nuisance in the Crown Court. Here is The Guardian’s report on the verdict. A few month later I was sentenced by the same judge. This is a copy of my mitigation statement as spoken before being sent to HMP Thameside for a 5 week sentence ( I served half the sentence in prison and half in the community.) This Central Bylines interview came after my recent trip to prison.
Writing
I managed to write when in prison in April/May 2023 for Green Christian and for the The Church Times Recently I recorded a Podcast with the Reverend Vet