Forty people, aged 22 to 58, incarcerated for direct actions on climate and Gaza actions amid crackdown on dissent

• ‘You won’t find the real criminals here’: a Just Stop Oil activist in jail at Christmas

A record number of people who have taken part in protests will be in prison in the UK this Christmas, raising concern about the ongoing crackdown on dissent.

Forty people, aged from 22 to 58, will be behind bars on Christmas Day for planning, or taking part in, a variety of protests relating to the climate crisis or the war in Gaza. Several of them are facing years in prison after courts handed down the most severe sentences on record for direct action protests.