British green energy entrepreneur Dale Vince has announced that he will no longer provide funds to activist group Just Stop Oil, citing its actions as “counterproductive.” As a major donor to the Labour Party, Vince had previously supported the group with £340,000 in funding to support their campaign against oil drilling in the North Sea since its foundation in February 2022. Explaining his decision, Vince argued further protests were “pointless” due to the government’s unwavering support for oil drilling. Vince also expressed concerns that protests would only help feed the Tories’ culture war narrative. Instead, he pledged to direct his funding towards increasing the anti-Conservative vote.
Writing in The Guardian, Vince explained how the oil-drilling sector must stop for the environment to recover. Moreover, he added that the focus should be on voting against the Conservatives rather than continuing with protests. In the same article, he wrote that dedicating his “time, energy and funding” to increase the youth vote could stop oil drilling and environmental degradation.
However, Just Stop Oil said that it is convinced that politicians are cowardly and the Labour Party has no intention to halt oil and gas projects that the government is approving. Moreover, it argued that civil resistance “really works,” with Labour having no intention of stopping the oil and gas projects the government is “furiously rubber-stamping.” Just Stop Oil added that it remained convinced that the Labour Party is “morally” cowardly and politics is broken.
Labour has pledged to block all new domestic oil and gas developments, but said it would honor any licenses in existence at the time of the next election, which is expected next year. Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has previously argued that Mr. Vince’s status as a backer of Just Stop Oil has caused Labour’s energy policies to be influenced by “eco-zealots.” Despite criticism from some corners, Labour has defended taking donations from Mr. Vince, arguing he is a “perfectly legitimate person” to accept money from
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More