‘I’m doing this for my son’: Woman carried off Waterloo Bridge during wave of protests over environment and cost of living crisis

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"I’m doing this for my son," says a woman to the camera as she is carried off Waterloo Bridge by police officers during protests on Sunday staged by campaign groups Just Stop Oil, Extinction Rebellion and others.

The major civil resistance march over the weekend closed four bridges in central London, bringing parts of the capital to a standstill, while simultaneous national rail strikes crippled transport services more widely.

In the video, the woman – Lora Johnson – provides a remarkably clear rationale for why she is protesting, despite being forcibly carried away by the police.

Speaking to the camera following her as she is marched away, she says: "I’m doing this for my son – the government’s inaction on climate change is a death sentence for us all.

"The United Nations has said we should have no new oil. Liz Truss wants to [grant] 130 new oil licences – that’s a death sentence for this planet."Ms Johnson was released from custody on Monday morning and is not facing charges.

Speaking to The Independent she said: "I’m in civil disobedience because of repeated government inaction on the climate emergency. The science has been clear from the 70s, but unfortunately repeated governments have chosen to put big business and private lobbyists before citizens. [They’re] breaking the social contract that a government is there to protect and serve the people of that nation and indeed all peoples around the planet we share.

"I believe mass civil disobedience is the only way out of this quick enough. Nothing else is working."

Asked what the reaction to the video has been like, Ms Johnson said: "Politics is all about pointless sound bitey rhetoric, and we’ve had enough of it. I am not a superhero though, I am simply a Mum trying to fight for my son. That is a universal language, a universal love, to fight for those you hold dearest."

Just Stop Oil, which has recently staged demonstrations on the M25, said they were calling on the government to "end the cost of living and climate crisis by stopping new oil and gas".

On Saturday "tens of thousands" of protesters, according to Just Stop Oil, blocked Waterloo, Westminster, Lambeth and Vauxhall bridges by sitting in the road.

On Sunday Waterloo Bridge remained the focus of the protests with hundreds of protesters gathering and at least 35 people arrested by police.

In a statement on Monday, Just Stop Oil said the protests in central London would continue.

"We declare Westminster a site of nonviolent civil resistance until the government commits to end new oil and gas," the group said.

"This is not a one day event, 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."

As well as the rail strikes, the demonstrations in London came alongside 50 protests as part of the emergent Enough is Enough movement, campaigning against the government’s handling of the cost of living crisis.

Protests were held in London, Newcastle, Sheffield, Brighton, Nottingham, Aberdeen, Ramsgate, Cardiff, Norwich, Glasgow, Worthing, Luton, Ellesmere Port, Manchester, Lincoln, Lancaster, Broadstairs, Hull, Leeds, Colchester, Southend, Portsmouth, Lichfield, Swansea, York, and Hastings among many more.