‘I’m not willing to watch everything I love burn’: Eco-zealot, 39, fights back tears in video from on top of Dartford Bridge as climate stunt shuts M25 crossing for EIGHT HOURS and police chief blasts ‘crazy’ activists

• Police have closed the Dartford Crossing after two people climbed the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at 3.50am
• Essex Police says it is dealing with them ‘as quickly and as safely’ as possible, but there are long delays
• Just Stop Oil has released a statement saying the bridge could be closed for ‘at least 24 hours’ by the protest
• One of the protesters has released a video saying he’s ‘not willing to sit back and watch everything I love burn’
• Do you know the Just Stop Oil protesters on Dartford Bridge? Contact [email protected] 

An eco-zealot civil engineer has fought back the tears in a selfie video taken from on top of the Dartford Bridge after a climate stunt shut the key M25 crossing for eight hours.

Morgan Trowland, a 39-year-old Just Stop Oil activist, appeared to be overcome with emotion as he said he had scaled the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge in protest as he ‘was not willing to sit back and watch everything I love burn for the rest of my life’.

In the course of this protest, which he started in the early hours of this morning with another demonstrator, thousands of motorists have been left stuck in seven-mile tailbacks as police closed the road below for their safety.

The Chief Constable of Essex Police has blasted the pair, calling them ‘crazy’ and said the force is doing everything it can to ‘get that road open as soon as possible’. 

Do you know the Just Stop Oil protesters? 

Do you know either or both of the protesters on the Dartford Bridge? 

Contact [email protected]

Furious drivers have demanded police reopen the road even if the pair are still up there, declaring that the protesters ‘knew the risks’ and are stopping people getting to work and hospital appointments. 

However, while police try to get them down the road seems set to remain closed, with Just Stop Oil saying it intends to keep it shut for ‘at least 24 hours’ in protest against the use of oil.

It is the 17th consecutive day of protest by the group, which has also targeted the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in Westminster today by throwing soup at the entrance to the building and demanding a meeting with the Home Secretary.

The environmentalist group, has launched demonstrations in London over the last few weeks- yesterday protesters sprayed orange paint over an Aston Martin garage in the capital, and blocked roads as they continue to demand an end to new oil and gas projects.

In an ominous warning, Just Stop Oil said this morning that it expects the bridge to remain closed for ‘at least 24 hours’ while the demonstrators remain in the air.

‘Two Just Stop Oil supporters have climbed to the top of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge forcing police to close the bridge to demand that the government halts all new oil and gas licences and consents,’ it said.

‘At approximately 5 am two climbers ascended the two 84m masts on the North side of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge forcing the police to stop traffic from entering the bridge. It is expected that the bridge will remain shut for at least 24 hours.’

National Highways is reporting there are queues of two hours with some motorists, who have branded the activists ‘selfish’, say they have been stuck in traffic for as long as three hours. 

In a video from the top of the bridge Morgan Trowland (pictured left) said he was ‘not willing to sit back and watch everything I love burn for the rest of my life’. The protesters, from Just Stop Oil, have vowed not to come down until the Government stops issuing new gas and oil licences

There is gridlock on the main and side roads of Essex today after police were forced to close the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge over the Thames

The protesters have said they intend to stay up and keep the bridge closed for at least 24 hours, potentially causing more than a day of traffic chaos

The protest has caused long delays on the roads, with reports of seven miles of queues on the M25 in Kent and five miles on the M25 in Essex

There have been huge delays on the M25 in both directions this morning after police were forced to close the bridge due to the protest. Pictured: Gridlock on the A282 in Essex today

Traffic cameras show miles of queues in Essex and Kent as motorists struggle to get to work on Monday morning as a result of the road closure

The protesters have unfurled a banner with the words ‘Just Stop Oil’ between two of the masts on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge

Aerial footage shows the protesters hanging high above the road after scaling the 84m masts on the northern side of the bridge

Police have been forced to close the road, which is the only crossing over the Thames to the east of London, as they try to coax the pair down

There are long queues in both directions of the M25 after the bridge was closed today, with traffic being diverted down the Dartford Tunnel in a bid to ease the congestion

Bamboo-structure obsessed eco-zealot from New Zealand, 39, who has ground M25 to a halt 

Just Stop Oil has named one of the two protesters who have scaled the Dartford Bridge this morning as Morgan Trowland.

The 39-year-old, who describes himself as being ‘obsessed with bamboo tensegrity and how it WILL change the world’ on his Twitter account, is a veteran of climate change protests. 

Originally from New Zealand, the civil engineer has taken part in several high profile demonstrations in recent years. 

He was arrested in 2019 while taking part in protests by Extinction Rebellion in London, for which he was convicted of taking part in an unauthorised protest and fined £500 and given a six month conditional discharge.

He has also been arrested for protests at London Concrete in Bow and for blocking Broxbourne printworks in Hertfordshire.

Morgan Trowland, pictured here outside St Albans Magistrate Court last year, is a veteran of climate protest

In a video posted from on top of the bridge today, Mr Trowland said he was protesting because ‘I’m not willing to sit back and watch everything I love burn for the rest of my life’.

The emotional protester railed against ‘the current fraudulent, charlatan excuse for a Government’, saying it was ‘accelerating that process granting more licences for oil and gas’.

‘It’s an absolute act of treason, it’s selling ourselves and our children into an uninhabitable earth and I believe it’s my duty to do anything in my power to stop it,’ he added.

The bamboo-loving demonstrator – who has built numerous bamboo sculptures and objects for use at protests – says he is certain climate change will cause havoc for future generations.

In a Facebook post last year he said: ‘Your children are facing annihilation within a decade or two, who knows exactly when? People in other parts of the world are facing it now. 

‘Inexorably, extreme weather and ecological collapse will alternately scorch, flood and plague our crops leading to food shortages, leading to mob violence, murder and rape as your desperate neighbours turn ugly.

‘We are outta time for incremental changes and we need to organise an emergency response an order of magnitude greater than for COVID. for that we need to take over the state as it’s the only institution through which this could happen. the mechanism proposed for that is a citizens assembly to set legally binding strategy.

‘That may sound impossible but it’s equally impossible to sit back and watch the annihilation lap at our door steps.’

Just Stop Oil has named the demonstrators Mr Trowland, bridge design engineer from London, and Marcus, a 33-year-old teacher from the capital.

Mr Trowland said: ‘As a professional civil engineer, each year as I renew my registration, I commit to acting within our code of ethics, which requires me to safeguard human life and welfare and the environment.

‘Our government has enacted suicidal laws to accelerate oil production: killing human life and destroying our environment.

 ‘I can’t challenge this madness in my desk job, designing bridges, so I’m taking direct action, occupying the QE2 bridge until the government stops all new oil.’ 

Marcus added he felt the current political system in the UK was ‘betraying the people of this country’

He said: ‘Too many people in this country simply don’t know the scale and intensity of climate breakdown as the scientists describe it.

‘The authorities are criminally failing to get this grim science communicated. During Covid the science was conveyed on a daily basis.

‘Why isn’t the most existential threat that humanity has ever faced on the news every day?

‘Our political system is betraying the people of this country. More fossil fuel licenses means global genocide. Only direct action will now help to reach the social tipping point we so urgently need.’

This morning’s protest is causing long delays, with reports of people having to wait an hour in queues of up to three miles long at 6am.

Essex Police said colleagues at National Highways are escorting traffic through the Dartford Tunnel in a bid to alleviate the impact of the road closure.

Traffic is also being impacted by an earlier closure to the Blackwell Tunnel, which was closed northbound this morning after a collision. It has since reopened.

The crossing is currently the only way to cross the River Thames by road east of London, with the A282, which connects both ends with the M25, running over the bridge.

The crossing contains two tunnels and the bridge, with the tunnels taking traffic north from Kent to Essex and the bridge taking vehicles in the other direction. Police have diverted traffic heading south through one of the tunnels in a bid to ease congestion.

Angry motorists have hit out at the protesters, accusing them of turning the M25 into a ‘car park’ as commuters struggle to get to work on Monday morning.

Others have accused the demonstrators of potentially costing lives by stopping ‘hundreds of NHS staff’ from getting to work and preventing people from getting to hospital and doctors appointments.

One video posted on social media shows an ambulance with blue lights flashing stuck in the traffic at Chafford Hundred in Essex this morning.

BJ Harrington, the Chief Constable of Essex Police, said he thought the pair were ‘crazy’ and was firmly on the side of motorists.

In an interview with BBC Essex, he said: ‘We want them to come down, but we’ve got to do that safely. Safely for the public, safely for the people who use the bridge and safely for those who operate the bridge. It’s a really dangerous and difficult environment.

‘I think they are crazy. I’m really frustrated and you’ve got every guarantee from me that the officers there at the moment, working with the Dartford Crossing and National Highways, will get that road open as soon as possible.’

He added: ‘We are advising and guiding the road operator. We are there, lets be honest, to arrest them when they come down. I think it’s criminal.

‘My officers are down there and it’s taking them away from other things and it’s stopping Essex and Kent from working and it’s just not acceptable.’

Essex Police says it is trying to resolve the incident ‘as quickly and as safely’ as possible, although it is still likely to cause big delays into rush-hour. 

‘The bridge has been closed while we resolve the incident which we will do as quickly and as safely for all involved,’ the force said on Monday.

‘It does mean that we have had to close the bridge to traffic, but a diversion is going to be put in place through the tunnel.

‘This is likely to cause delays throughout this morning and this incident may take some time to resolve due to the complexities of safely getting people down from height.’

The force later said: ‘Our colleagues from National Highways South East have now began escorting traffic through the tunnel. It currently believes there are delays of around 60 minutes. We appreciate your patience and understanding.’ 

It added: ‘This is a complex operation due to the height at which the protesters are currently situated and it may take some but we are working as quickly as possible. We want to be clear – our priority is to keep people safe and keep Essex moving.

‘We will take action against anyone who puts life in danger or things they can selfishly stop others getting to work or getting on with their lives. We appreciate your patience and understanding and will keep you updated through the day.’

A spokesperson for Essex Police said the are ‘liaising with our partners and negotiating and speaking to the people who are up on the Dartford Crossing and looking to see what options are available to us’. 

Protesters have also targeted the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) today, throwing soup on the sign at the entrance to the building in Westminster

Activists also sat down in the road, blocking traffic in Victoria Street in central London in what is the 17th consecutive day of demonstrations by the group

Those stuck in the queue at Dartford Bridge have hit out at the eco-zealots, as frustrated motorists honked their horns, revved their engines and shouted out ‘come on’ as the sea of cars slowly edged toward the crossing.

Oliver Tite, a 25-year-old from Dartford who works as a lift engineer, was trying to get to Essex for a job interview.

‘It’s ridiculous and it’s a pain for everyone,’ he said.

‘I’m late for a job interview, I probably won’t make it, but I’ll just have to wait and see. If I don’t make it on time, I’ll have to get it moved, if they let me move it.

‘But it’s completely out of my hands and so frustrating. I don’t know why they don’t keep the bridge going. It’s the protesters choice to be up there, so why don’t we make them deal with the consequences?’

Mother of two Jo Reading, a 42-year-old personal assistant from Dartford, said: ‘It’s not great, it’s not great at all.

‘It’s frustrating and I hope it doesn’t take too long to get through. It’s got to the point where you almost expect this kind of thing, which isn’t good either.’

Just Stop Oil said on their website today: ‘Today’s actions follow over two weeks of continuous disruption by supporters of Just Stop Oil in which they have experienced over 450 arrests.

‘On Sunday, there were 14 arrests of Just Stop Oil supporters, who blocked Park Lane and sprayed an Aston Martin dealership with orange paint. Since the campaign began on April 1st, Just Stop Oil supporters have been arrested over 1,700 times, with 5 currently in prison.

‘This is not a one day event, expect us every day and anywhere. This is an act of resistance against a criminal government and their genocidal death project. Our supporters will be returning – today, tomorrow and the next day – and the next day after that – and every day until our demand is met: no new oil and gas in the UK.’

According to Rich Felgate, a documentary maker who has been filming the group’s recent protests, two of its supporters climbed up this morning ‘shutting down the entire bridge and blocking oil tankers from oil terminals in Essex traveling south’. 

The protest comes a day after demonstrators from the environmental group blocked traffic in Park Lane, London, and sprayed paint over an Aston Martin showroom.

One furious black cab driver hauled the eco-zealots from the road as they protested for a 16th day in a row in the capital. 

One motorist bellowed at them: ‘People have got f****** work to go to’ while another added ‘people are trying to go to hospital’.

One motorist bellowed at them: ‘People have got f****** work to go to’ while another added ‘people are trying to go to hospital’

Members of the public were not amused by the protest group’s activities and removed them themselves from the road

Just Stop Oil sprayed orange paint over the Aston Martin car showroom in an apparent spontaneous act of vandalism

The spray painter somehow found themselves on the floor and appeared to have been arrested by the Metropolitan Police

Among them were a pregnant mother and a musician who all vowed to continue with their deeply divisive campaign.

Chloe Thomas, 19, from Cannock said: ‘I’m 15 weeks pregnant this week. Today, we’re out here on the road together, demanding no new oil. How do I explain to my daughter in the years to come where the animals went, where the culture went, where the beauty went, why there are no bees and why I can’t put food in her tummy?

‘You know it’s bad, don’t you? As citizens, as humans, as parents and children we have a responsibility and a right under British law to protect ourselves and those we love. ‘

David Kearns, 45, a musician from Birmingham added: ‘I can not stand by and allow this government to continue destroying everything we love for the sake of nothing but profit.

‘The climate crisis is a product of greed, just as the cost of living crisis is a product of greed and I will not comply with a system that puts profits before the people and the planet. ‘

It came just hours after Suella Braverman slammed the activists as ‘thugs’ and told the Metropolitan Police and told them to ‘do a better job’.

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