Romola Garai and Emma Thompson among over 100 star names showing solidarity for jailed climate protesters

Historian Sir Simon Schama and actress Romola Garai are among the more than 100 names who have signed a letter showing solidarity for jailed climate protesters.

Dame Emma Thompson, playwright Inua Ellams and Booker Prize winner Ben Okri also signed the letter alongside Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, actress Juliet Stevenson and broadcaster Chris Packham.

The letter, organised by a group of writers affiliated to the protest group Extinction Rebellion, says they are all “in solidarity with all those in the UK who have recently been imprisoned for taking part in non-violent protests”.

The Writers Rebel group estimates more than 100 people have been put imprisoned for taking part in protests which have included scaling buildings and blocking roads to stop traffic as well as tying themselves to goalposts during football matches.

Stevenson, whose career includes a recent West End run in The Doctor as well as hit film Truly, Madly, Deeply, said: “The science is irrefutable, and the devastating effects of climate change can now be seen all around us. It is not those who are in prison for protesting who are behaving irresponsibly, but our government, which has persistently refused to take appropriate action. Instead of locking up those who take to the streets in protest, the government should act now on climate change.”

The campaign is also backed by writer Helen Pankhurst who likened the group’s campaign to her own family’s involvement in the fight for women’s right to vote.

She said: “At Bow Street Magistrate Courts in 1908 my great grandmother Emmeline Pankhurst defended the Suffragettes’ actions by saying: ‘We are here, not because we are law-breakers; We are here in our efforts to become law-makers.’

“The same applies to the actions of climate activists today. They have my support both because the barriers to protest that they are increasingly facing demonstrates the dangers to democracy when protest is silenced and because climate change is an existential threat that those with power must do more to confront.”

Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil protesters have faced heavy criticism for the extent of the disruption their protests have caused.