The Telegraph:
Just Stop Oil set to unleash campaign of Christmas chaos targeting central London roads
Rishi Sunak is to host a meeting with police later this week in order to find out what more powers they need to deal with demonstrators
Just Stop Oil activists are planning to launch a campaign of Christmas chaos on Monday by targeting roads across central London, police have warned.
Protesters are expected to unleash a fresh wave of disruption which will see them blocking major roundabouts, glueing themselves to the tarmac and marching slowly in front of traffic.
The new tactics will see the group return to central London after last month's
focus on the M25 motorway. The daily disruption is expected to begin today and last until at least December 14.
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, is to host a meeting with police chiefs later this week, in order to find out what more powers they need in order to tackle the protesters more effectively.
A briefing document circulated among Just Stop Oil activists urges them to target rush hour and “march as slowly as possible from key roundabouts in multiple teams and timed phases”.
They are also advised to make life difficult for the police by moving from location to location and “locking on” where possible with glue, chains and bicycle D-locks.
It is likely to result in widespread frustration among motorists, who face being trapped in gridlock in the busy build up to Christmas.
The disruption is also coming at the same time as many commuters could be forced onto the roads to avoid planned rail strikes.
But the Metropolitan Police is urging people not to
take matters into their own hands if they are impacted by the group’s actions.
Commander Karen Findlay said: “I completely understand the frustration and anger felt by the public who are seriously disrupted by a relatively small number of protesters and their deliberate tactics.”
But she added: “Where activists cross the line into criminality, the Met will provide a proportionate policing response. We will arrive quickly, deal with the situation efficiently, remove and arrest activists as appropriate and return things to normal as soon as possible. Please do not take matters into your own hands.”
Police have vowed to respond “quickly and effectively” to any incidents, but it is feared there will still be considerable disruption for millions of people.
This week Mr Sunak will host a summit meeting in Downing Street with Suella Braverman, the home secretary, Chris Philp, the police minister and a handful of top ranking police chiefs to discuss the response to Just Stop Oil protesters.
Mr Sunak has called for the guidance issued to frontline officers by the College of Policing to be updated to reflect the additional powers afforded to the police under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, and set out clearly how the police should use these powers.
“He is not happy that not enough is being done to prevent Just Stop Oil's protests,” a Government source said. “Over the past few weeks he has continuously seen this disruption happening and has been really frustrated with it.”
Mr Sunak and Ms Braverman will use the meeting to ask police chiefs what new powers they need to better tackle Just Stop Oil protesters, and whether they have any ideas about what could be done differently.
Officials in the Department for Transport are also examining whether “beefed up” injunctions could be sought to limit the disruption.
National Highways successfully applied for injunctions during the previous round of protests on the M25 and Government figures believe a similar approach could help blunt the impact of the demonstrations.
But a Whitehall source admitted that injunctions could only go so far in deterring protesters who were “hell bent” on causing mayhem.
“We could have the strongest injunction in the world and these people will still go out and cause disruption,” they said. “That’s why we also need strong and prompt enforcement of the law by the police.”
Previous protests by Extinction Rebellion led to widespread criticism of the police, who were accused of being slow to respond and showing the activists too much respect.
But Ms Findlay said the Met was prepared to meet the challenge head on and said: “We have a very experienced team with robust policing measures in place to respond quickly and effectively to any incidents of serious disruption to London.
“We also have specialist officers available to deal with a range of tactics including sophisticated lock-on devices.”
But last night a spokesman for Just Stop Oil said there was little the government or police could do to deter them from taking action to prevent the “climate emergency” and likened their struggle to that of the Suffragettes.
The spokesman said: “It matters little what changes legislators make to the laws on peaceful protest or how strongly the police enforce those laws.
“Just Stop Oil supporters understand that this is irrelevant when set against mass starvation, slaughter, the loss of our rights, freedoms and communities. Just Stop Oil is not a fashionable cause or a protest movement.
These so-called “eco-zealots” are people in resistance and they are doing what the Suffragettes did and what the Civil Rights movements did.”
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Just Stop Oil recruit army of new activists for fresh wave of protests
The protest group are not in action on Tuesday, but will be back disrupting on Wednesday in first disruption stunts since Nov 10
Just Stop Oil has recruited an army of activists for a fresh wave of protests targeting London in the build-up to Christmas.
On Monday, demonstrators walked slowly in the middle of roads in the capital in their latest stunt, but the group are not out on Tuesday because "it was never part of the plan".
Asked if the day off was due to their dwindling numbers or an attempt to get the public on side, a spokesman for Just Stop Oil said: "Many of those who are taking action this week are taking their first steps in civil resistance.
"Support for Just Stop Oil’s demand is growing after our six week campaign of actions in the capital during October and November."
This week's actions are the first from the group since Nov 10, which marked the end of six weeks of continuous disruption.
Just Stop Oil will return to London on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the group said: "No action today. This was never part of our plan. We'll be back in action again tomorrow."
During this period, the police made more than 700 arrests and since the group's campaign began on Apr 1, Just Stop Oil supporters have been arrested over 2,000 times, with 27 supporters currently in prison.
It has left organisers having to rethink their strategies.
In previous weeks, protesters climbed gantries on the M25, and it is understood they planned to use this tactic further afield.
But owing to the training required, when the activists were brought down from above the motorways and arrested, with some remanded in custody.
Dartford Crossing pair facing trial
This was the case with the two men accused of climbing a bridge in a Just Stop Oil protest that closed the Dartford Crossing for two days in October.
Drivers were unable to use the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex, after it was blocked when two demonstrators mounted its cables with climbing equipment.
Marcus Decker, 33, of no fixed address, appeared by prison videolink at Basildon Crown Court on Tuesday where he denied causing a public nuisance between Oct 16 and 19.
Morgan Trowland, 39, of Islington, north London, did not attend the hearing but the court was told he had indicated a plea of not guilty.
The pair are alleged to have displayed a Just Stop Oil banner from the bridge.
Judge Shane Collery KC said they will stand trial from March 27, giving a time estimate of seven days.
He said a pre-trial review will take place on Mar 13.
Just Stop Oil back out tomorrow
The group will head back out to London on Wednesday after the frustrating scenes on Monday where Met Police officers walking alongside the activists had no power to act, according to a chief inspector.
As the farcical scenes unfolded, Ch Insp Billy Bowen-Long, who helps to lead public order planning for the force, admitted the protest was lawful so officers could not intervene.
Asked whether it had been a good use of police resources, he told MailOnline: "Well it's what we have to do given the intelligence we've got.
"It's an intensive resource but that's where we are at the moment. Weighed up against all the violent crime then no I wouldn't say so.
"We police the law as it is and we have to provide an appropriate response to that, which is what we've done today."
Over the weekend, Scotland Yard had spoken firmly of taking strong action against the protest group, insisting it would respond swiftly and decisively to tackle any unlawful demonstrations.
A Just Stop Oil spokesman said: "People are rightly are asking themselves what is a proportionate response to the absolute betrayal of humanity presided over by our leaders at Cop27?
"Our supporters understand what many have not yet grasped - that no-one is coming to save us.
"As a result they are stepping up to do whatever is nonviolently possible to resist this government’s genocidal policies.
"The government can end the disruption today by announcing an end to new oil and gas licences and consents."
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Watch: Just Stop Oil bombarded with abuse by angry pedestrians
Officers make no arrests at protest with one saying 'they're walking down the highway and we're facilitating them'
“It's the police – they’re not doing anything!” shouted a pensioner stranded at a bus stop in north London amid a mass tailback caused by
the latest Just Stop Oil protest on Wednesday.
As two officers strolled indifferently past her, a red mist descended on her friend.
“You might not have something better to do with your life but we do, so f---off. Get off the streets,” the fur-coated pensioner yelled at the 11 eco activists, clutching a shopping bag while waving her middle finger and walking stick around.
The volley of expletives in Islington, coming from such ostensibly mild-mannered passers-by, left the environmental group stunned – and the police could only laugh.
Islington locals, not exactly known for their conservative credentials, had little time for
the climate group’s chaos, with pedestrians just as vocal as the bus drivers and motorists.
A passing white van man shouted, “W------! Go and get a job, the lot of you!” prompting one middle-aged hi-vis protester to cry back: “We’ve got jobs!”
It marked an escalation in tensions caused by
the group’s new tactic of slowly marching in a barricade along a highway, exploiting a legal loophole which avoids arrest as long as it is not deemed “serious disruption”.
In Wednesday's disruption, Just Stop Oil spent 110 minutes walking two-and-a-half miles across two lanes at the busy Highbury Corner junction and along the A1, as well as in the Barbican, just as they did on the Strand on Monday.
They caught the Metropolitan Police off guard, with van-loads arriving 20 minutes later only to walk in tow before letting them freely leave. Now, the public were turning on the police, too.
As motorists demanded answers, one of the dozens of officers explained: “They’re not doing anything wrong at the minute – they’re not obstructing the highway, it’s still moving. It could potentially [go on indefinitely].”
Another officer, asked why they were not arresting the protesters, said: “They’re walking down the highway and we’re facilitating them.”
A third police officer said: “By moving, you’re just on a protest, on a march, effectively. Unless they stop, they’re not breaking the law. The problem is the traffic can get past when the opportunity arises – it’s a proper grey area.”
It contrasted somewhat with the tough talk of Karen Findlay, the Met commander, who vowed over the weekend to “arrive quickly, deal with the situation efficiently, remove and arrest activists as appropriate”, as the group plots chaos in the run-up to Christmas.
It came as Alex De Koning, a Just Stop Oil spokesman, said the group was considering following the suffragettes who “violently slashed paintings in order to get their messages across” as it “continues to escalate” until the Government halts all gas and oil licences.
The National Gallery, well aware the group has already
thrown soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers in October, said its security protocols were tough. The British Museum, meanwhile, said that it would “ensure objects and visitors are not put at risk”.
Against the din of rabid horn-beeping, one bus passenger yelled: “It’s the height of selfishness!” while another told them: “We’ve got places to be.”
As things got heated, an inspector, who had unsuccessfully tried to persuade the group to leave on safety grounds, told a yelling pedestrian: “They don’t care about what you care, they care about what they care – so it’s incredibly selfish.”
Gary Townsend, a taxi driver stuck in Islington, said his message to Just Stop Oil was “to get off the road and let people earn a living”, adding it was “a complete and utter waste of time”.
Tony Spooner, 54, a self-employed builder, said it was “disgusting” how the police were not intervening, after officers told him to “be patient” when his car bonnet brushed the protesters.
Others solemnly clapped the activists and one enthusiastic motorist even joined them, as they chanted “you can’t arrest a flood” and “you can’t beep a horn when you’re dead”.
Shaun Irish, 25, the protest ringleader, said: “I think it’s a waste of police resources. I don’t know why they’re sending so much for a peaceful protest.”
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Courts are failing to deter Just Stop Oil protesters, say police chiefs
Blame game breaks out over who is responsible for the chaos, with Rishi Sunak urging the police to 'act decisively and rapidly'
The courts have failed to act as a deterrent to
Just Stop Oil protesters, police chiefs said on Thursday, as a blame game broke out over who was responsible for tackling the chaos.
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, urged the police to do more and “act decisively and rapidly to end the misery and the disruption that's being caused to ordinary families up and down the country”.
But
Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, suggested it was not that simple, telling the London Assembly his officers had not been able to arrest protesters in London in recent days because they were not causing “serious delays or disruption”.
Following weeks of
mounting frustration over the actions of Just Stop Oil, the Prime Minister and Home Secretary, hosted a summit in Downing Street at which police leaders insisted they required more government help to deal with the problem.
As well as asking for the Government to devise a statutory definition of “serious disruption” to clear up confusion over their powers, they said the justice system had been far too slow in dealing with those who broke the law.
Police chiefs asked the Government to consider a range of specific measures to make it easier to prevent further Just Stop Oil chaos.
Among them was the setting up of a working group to examine whether
counter-terror tactics, such as how to spot suspicious characters in art galleries and museums, could be applied to prevent unlawful attacks by the group.
They also want the definition of “serious disruption” to take account of the cumulative impact of regular protests on communities.
Just Stop Oil launched a fresh wave of demonstrations earlier this week with
activists marching slowly in front of traffic at various locations across the capital.
The demonstrations have caused anger among motorists, with claims the police have not tried to intervene.
But speaking to the London Assembly before the summit, Sir Mark defended his officers’ approach.
He said: “Yesterday we had a group of eight people sometimes walking on the roads, sometimes walking on the pavements, who caused almost no serious delays or disruption whatsoever.
Despite the criticism he insisted the current police approach was working because the group had become “much less assertive” in its tactics.
He said this was a consequence of a large number of their members being remanded in custody after being arrested.
But he said many of their trials had been listed for 2024 which he said was a symptom of the delays in the criminal justice system.
BJ Harrington, NPCC lead on public order, said: “It’s capacity and having dedicated resources whether that’s Nightingale courts or freeing up other courts to do that.
“We want to work with the CPS, courts and Government to make sure we can get that fair but quick justice not only for people in these criminal protests but so we are not blocking up those seeking justice elsewhere.”
Mr Sunak said on Thursday night: "This afternoon I sat down with all the police chiefs to make it clear that they have my full support in acting decisively to clamp down on illegal protests.
"It is completely unacceptable that ordinary members of the public are having their lives disrupted by a selfish minority.
"My view is that those who break the law should feel the full force of it, and that's what I am determined to deliver."
Asked whether ministers will bring in new legislation or boost powers for officers, he replied: "I've said to the police whatever they need from Government they will have in terms of new powers."
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Just Stop Oil's disruptive new tactics are not a victory for the police
Officers are letting activists get away with behaviour that infuriates the public
The protesters belonging to Just Stop Oil have a new tactic to disrupt motorists trying to go about their daily business. They
walk slowly in the road ahead of traffic, forcing it to crawl along at a snail’s pace. Astonishingly, they are accompanied in this endeavour by police officers. If a police presence is required because they are breaking the law, why are they not being arrested? Otherwise, why are the officers there at all? Is it to protect the walkers from irate drivers? At one point, 80 officers and six vans were deployed to watch over a handful of activists.
This is an insult to the law-abiding public and is making a mockery of the rule of law. The new strategy has been adopted because the police and courts have finally cracked down on the activists who glued themselves to the roads or climbed on to motorway gantries. Injunctions have helped the police carry out pre-emptive arrests on known trouble-makers. Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, told the London Assembly that it was a measure of “assertive” police success in stopping the previous activity that they were now resorting to slow walking. But his officers are letting them get away with it. Just a few arrests are made before the agitators regroup.
Getting a balance between legitimate protest and unlawful disruption seems to be a task beyond our legislators, law enforcers or the courts. No one wants to stop the protesters making their point; but they can do that from the pavement. Wilfully blocking the highway is supposed to be a criminal offence but apparently it does not constitute the “severe disruption” needed for the police to act. If there is doubt over what everyone imagined the law to be, then Parliament needs to end it.
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