Animal Rebellion Puts Pressure On New Prime Minister Liz Truss As Supporters Take Action At 3 Dairy Distribution Centres Amidst Reports Of Empty Milk Shelves
(Animal Rebellion Supporters On A Milk Truck At Freshways Acton)
At 06:20 this morning (6/9/22) individuals blockaded the entry and exit roads to Freshways Acton, as others trespassed into the facility. Meanwhile, between 04:45 and 05:45, a group blocked access to Müller Droitwich by climbing onto trucks queuing to enter, whilst others trespassed into Müller Willenhall. At all 3 facilities, the groups drilled through tyres to immobilise milk trucks [1].
This comes as reports of empty milk shelves are reported in locations across the South, including Portsmouth.
This comes after Animal Rebellion supporters disrupted access to yesterday’s Prime Ministerial announcement, with Liz Truss described as showing “little sign she is ready to meet big environmental challenges” [2].
On the day Liz Truss will officially become Prime Minister, supporters of Animal Rebellion escalated disruption at 3 dairy distribution facilities across the Midlands and South of England. This comes as reports surface, including from a Lidl in Portsmouth, of empty milk shelves.
(A sign reported milk shortages in Lidl, Portsmouth)
Xanthe, 18, from South-East England, who is amongst those at Acton said
“Yesterday Liz Truss was announced as our new Prime Minister, throughout her time as Environment Secretary, and then Foreign Secretary she has neglected farmers, rural communities, and our natural world.
We are taking action after months of attempted negotiations have been ignored by Truss and her predecessor, Boris Johnson. All this time people across the country have suffered during the cost-of-living crisis, whilst we saw searing temperatures in July and August as a direct result of the climate and ecological emergencies.
We need the new Prime Minister to make the first steps towards a better world by beginning the transition into a plant-based future”
(Footage Showing Tyres Being Drilled To Immobilise Milk Trucks At Müller Willenhall)
Animal Rebellion is urging Liz Truss to fulfil her self-label of “environmentalist before it was fashionable [3]” and takes bold, positive action on the climate and ecological emergencies. The group has reiterated its commitment to taking nonviolent direct action until progress toward their demands has been made by the new Prime Minister and her government [4].
Robert Allan, 28, A musician from London, involved at Acton said
“We are being faced with the most brutal of cost-of-living crises right now. Food is becoming more scarce and expensive because of the drought and crop failures brought on by the climate crisis. Liz Truss’s time as Environment, then Foreign Secretary increased the reliance on importation and the inappropriate distribution of subsidies that trap farmers in unproductive, loss-making businesses.
The new Prime Minister should use their role to reverse this damage and take a bold step toward a plant-based future. If we make this transition farmers can reliably produce vast amounts of cheap, healthy, and local plant-based food. Not only would this reduce the grocery bill for families across the UK, but the land no-longer-needed for animal farming and fishing could be rewilded and draw down vast amounts of carbon from the atmosphere.
We have a science-backed solution to the climate and ecological crisis and we urge Liz Truss to take it.”
The action today comes as part of Animal Rebellion’s demands for a plant-based future, which were announced on Monday 23rd of May [5]. The animal and climate group is calling for wholesale governmental support for farmers and fishing communities to transition to a plant-based food system and programme of rewilding that will secure a future for generations to come.
Animal Rebellion is a mass movement using nonviolent civil disobedience to call for a just, sustainable plant-based food system.
ENDS
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Notes To Editors:
[1] Sites affected today (6/9/22) are 1. Freshways Acton W3 7QE, 2. Müller Droitwich, WR9 0LW 3. Müller Willenhall, WV12 4LF.
[2] https://www.animalrising.org/post/announcement-of-new-prime-minister-disrupted-by-supporters-of-animal-rebellion and https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/05/liz-truss-shows-little-sign-she-is-ready-to-meet-big-environmental-challenges
[4] Animal Rebellion is demanding that 1. Government supports farmers and fishing communities to move away from animal farming and fishing as part of an urgent and immediate transition to a plant-based food system. 2. Government commits to rewild the freed-up land and ocean as part of a broader programme of wildlife restoration and carbon drawdown.