Mat Osmond is a writer and senior lecturer for the MA Illustration course at Falmouth University, while attending his first Just Stop Oil protest in London on Sunday he was arrested along with a group of 12 people for wilful obstruction of the highway.

Mat Osmond, senior lecturer at Falmouth University.

Just Stop Oil Supporters have been blocking roads in London and say they are peacefully resisting the government's plans to license over 100 new oil and gas projects by 2025, as well as the government's failure to fulfil its promises to help those facing poverty with huge rises in energy bills.

Mat joined the Just Stop Oil group in East London, he said: "Our team closed down two lanes of a four-way junction on Commercial Street by sitting in the road until removed by police, with some of us 'locked on' to each other to delay removal. We didn't glue onto the road on this occasion, our priority always being to be sure we can make way for blue-light vehicles as needed."

Back in August Just Stop Oil said there had been 1,296 arrests since the campaign started on April 1st, it is now estimated to be around 2,000 and seems to be a regular occurrence, Mat explained the process he and the group faced: "The longest stay that any of our team incurred was about 36 hours, I believe. I was 'Released Under Investigation' ten hours after arrest."

Mat said he was relieved to see the police turn up despite then being arrested. Concerning the videos of Just Stop Oil activists being dragged from the road by members of the public that many of us have seen online, Mat said: "Witnessing this level of public anger firsthand is less alarming than seeing it on Youtube, strangely. It's not something we enter into lightly and the Nonviolence training Just Stop Oil give all their activists really helps. I was familiar with the arrest process and knew what to expect. I encountered no problems with the police, many of whom understand why we're doing this." 

Holly Astle is an artist from Falmouth and was a former student of Mats while studying illustration at the University, Holly was also arrested back on the 4th of October with two other activists from Falmouth, Tristian Herbert and Finn Halsall.

Holly described how the day unfolded, she said: "We blocked Parliament square by sitting on a roadblock, I believe 54 arrests were made that day including Finn, Tristian, and I, it was my first ever time getting arrested so I was honestly pretty scared of the whole thing, but I had come to the decision a while ago that this was the right thing to do.

"We obviously experienced people who were angry at us, which was to be expected, but what really surprised me was how many passers-by were on side, getting little nods and thumbs up and thank you's. That actually made me more emotional.

"The arrest itself was largely non-eventful, I was handcuffed, put in a van, and taken to Islington police station where I was held for a few hours before being released on bail. What interested me is that even some of the police understood the severity of the crisis, but they told me they thought that it was too late and that what we were doing wasn't enough."

Mat said that there are many people in Cornwall doing far more of this work than he has and wasn't surprised to hear of more arrests, he said: "I've often encountered Falmouth and Exeter students and alumni when on actions, and sometimes colleagues too. What was more of a surprise on this occasion, for me, was the level of support we received from the public as we sat in the road which is not always shown."

It was clear both Holly and Mat were extremely passionate, on the Just Stop Oil website Mat explained why he felt the need to travel to London and join the protest: "What terrifies me about this crisis is how normalised it's become. I'm taking action with Just Stop Oil because I can see no other way to confront the obscenity of our governments, and all of us, still choosing to act as if none of this was real.

"Every day now I hear people telling themselves it's already too late to stop runaway global heating. It's never too late to act as if the lives of others matter. That's all the certainty we need. If even one in ten of us who already know what runaway global heating means for human societies took up civil resistance with Just Stop Oil and their allies, there'd be no stopping us." Mat added.