Two octogenarians from the environmental group Just Stop Oil damaged, on Friday May 10, the window which protects a copy of the Magna Carta, considered a founding text of modern democracy, on display at the British Library in London.
A video broadcast by the group, accustomed to spectacular actions, shows the two ladies attacking the thick glass by hitting a chisel with a hammer. The British Library holds two of four surviving copies of Magna Carta, a 1215 text establishing that the king and his government are not above the law.
“This famous document deals with the rule of law, and opposition to the abuse of power. Our government is breaking its own laws,” says 85-year-old Judy Bruce. The Magna Carta was signed on June 15, 1215 by the King of England, John Lackland, under pressure from rebel barons keen to limit royal arbitrariness. It inspired numerous legal texts, including the United States Constitution of 1787 and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.
According to Just Stop Oil, which is campaigning for the government to establish a plan to end the use of fossil fuels by 2030, the two octogenarians then stuck their hands together. Quoted in a statement, Judy Bruce said that “400 leading scientists contributing to the IPCC reports say we are ‘woefully unprepared’ for what’s coming: 2.5°C or more of warming above pre-industrial levels.”
She was referring to a recent Guardian poll, which found that almost 80% of responding scientists expect such warming, which exceeds the Paris Agreement target. The British Library announced, without further details, on X, the closure of the “treasure gallery”, where the Magna Carta is exhibited.
