Angry commuters blast Just Stop Oil for 'stopping us from working'

‘We’re not your enemies!’ Angry commuters blast Just Stop Oil activists for ‘stopping us from working’ as 90 eco-zealots cause gridlock by ‘slow marching’ through central London

• Just Stop Oil is holding four marches across Westminster and Lambeth today 
• Read more: Just Stop Oil leaders hold secret training sessions for eco zealots

Furious commuters have blasted eco-zealots from Just Stop Oil, for ‘stopping us from working’ after the group held yet another slow matching protest through the capital this morning. 

More than 90 activists from the Extinction Rebellion (XR) offshoot will be marching across four different locations in the London borough’s of Westminster and Lambeth, as the group vows to bring the capital to a halt this summer.

In a video clip shared by the group, eco-fanatics are seen marching slowly down London’s world-famous Strand, near Trafalgar square, causing mayhem. 

The group, dressed in orange and holding huge banners, sparked fury from taxi drives and cyclists alike who drove onto the pavement to avoid the march.

One angry commuter approached telling them ‘we’re not your enemies’ before asking them ‘Can you not do it somewhere else over there? You are stopping everyone – what’s wrong with you?’

One furious commuter who approached Just Stop Oil protesters on The Strand this morning told them ‘we are not your enemies’ adding that they were ‘stopping us from working’

Met Police officers attended the Just Stop Oil protest which also took place across Whitehall and the Southbank

He said: ‘You are stopping everyone – we are not your enemies.’

When one protester said tried to claim it was ‘aimed at the government’ not the public, the man exclaimed ‘it is stopping us from working’.

He added: ‘How are we going to feed our families if you lot are standing here while I am making no money?

‘Have you got a way of dealing with this problem apart from making everybody else’s life a misery?’

Furious bus drivers blocked behind the march could be heard beeping their horns in attempt to barge the climate activists out of the way. 

Met Police officers are at the protests. There have been no arrests reported so far. 

Elsewhere in the country, activists from XR are protesting in Poole, Dorset, following the Poole Harbour oil spill that took place in March.

It saw 200 barrels of oily water escape from a pipeline, resulting in a major incident being declared and harm to wildlife in the area.

The activist group staged a peaceful protest at Wytch Farm oil production centre this morning, calling for the oil company responsible for the spill, Perenco, to lose its licence.

The group, dressed in orange and holding huge banners, sparked fury from taxi drives and cyclists alike who drove onto the pavement to avoid the march

Just Stop Oil (pictured on The Strand this morning) has been causing mass disruption for the past two years, staging sit-ins on motorways, throwing paint over precious works of art and gluing themselves to buildings

Activists from Extinction Rebellion are today protesting in Poole, Dorset, following the Poole Harbour oil spill that took place in March. They are calling for the oil company responsible, Perenco, to lose its licence 

Event co-organiser, Adam Osman from XR Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole said: ‘Join us to make a stand against site owners Perenco and their risky oil business. Perenco polluted Poole Harbour and we believe this production site is now past its expiry date. 

‘It’s time for oil production to end here, and for fossil fuel production to wind down everywhere.’

A large group of activists were seen banging drums and chanting ‘Perenco out’. 

The protests come days after it was revealed that Just Stop Oil had been holding secret training sessions in a plot to bring London to a standstill in single day of mass action.

There are also concerns that the group will stage some form of protest during King Charles’ historic Coronation next Saturday. 

A large group of activists were seen banging drums and chanting ‘Perenco out’ at Wytch Farm oil production centre this morning (pictured)

Event co-organiser, Adam Osman from XR Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, called for the end of oil production in Dorset and elsewhere around the globe as he rallied supporters

During one of the sessions, a training leader, named Lance, spoke of the importance of slow marches and road sit ins, as they plan to create a summer of chaos.

He told trainees: ‘Disruption is really, really important. We need a mass element of that. 

‘When we get to the point that we have 1,000 marching every day — that’s what we should aim for. One thousand every day. Fifty marches every day. So we can shut London down on one day. That is the level of disruption we’re aiming for.

‘At the moment we have 100 marching every day. We’ve got to keep going. We’ve got time to build it up.’

He went on to add that 95 per cent of the group’s time should be spent prepping for protests, with only five per cent being spent on action.

The group also told budding protestors to take inspiration from the suffragette movement in the early 20th century – calling on its members to throw rocks, break windows as well as ‘using fire and arson and so on’.

Just Stop Oil has been causing mass disruption for the past two years, staging sit-ins on motorways, throwing paint over precious works of art and gluing themselves to buildings.

Their protests have infuriated members of the public and even held up blue-light ambulances and fire engines.

The activists disruption has come at a huge financial cost to the Met police, as well as putting a strain on resources.

Just Stop Oil has been causing mass disruption for the past two years, staging sit-ins on motorways, throwing paint over precious works of art and gluing themselves to buildings. Pictured: Protesters staging a sit-in protest in October 2022 

Just Stop Oil protesters take part in a slow march in central London on Thursday

In November the Met chief said that 12,000 work shifts had been used to clear roads and patrol motorways, with the Met spending £7.5 million in just nine weeks last autumn.

Last week, police officers came under fire for their soft touch approach when 60 eco-activists from the group held ‘slow-marching action’, holding up traffic in the streets.

One angry passer-by tore up the Just Stop Oil banner leading him to be confronted by police officers. A stark difference to how the officers politely asked the campaigners to move onto the pavement.

The video shared by the group showed the man telling the demonstrators to ‘f*** off, every single one of you’ and ‘move out of the way’. When he rips the banners from the hands of protesters and pushes them to the side of the road, police nearby go to stop him.

One of the uniformed officers then tells the man ‘if you push them, that’s assault – if you do that, that is a crime’, while the commuter can be heard complaining ‘people have got to go to work’.

The group was also accused of holding up an ambulance on Oxford Street on Thursday morning before reaching the long queue of traffic stuck behind the Just Stop Oil activists.

But it became stuck due to a number of lorries and vans blocking the one-way road ahead.

The ambulance did not appear to have its sirens activated, but video shows the protesters continuing their march despite the vehicle being just a couple of cars behind them.

Announcing the new measures on Wednesday Home Secretary Suella Braverman (pictured) said: ‘Selfish, disruptive protesters are wreaking havoc in people’s everyday lives across the country and this must be brought to a stop’ 

Just Stop Oil said its activists moved out of the way as soon as they realised the ambulance was behind them.

Drivers across the capital are becoming increasingly infuriated by the action, leading to the Home Secretary Suella Braverman unveiling plans to tackle the disruptive ‘slow marching’ tactics.

The cabinet member said the new laws, which are expected to be enforced within weeks, would allow police officers to drag away protestors from the road.

The measure had been dropped from the Public Order Bill this week after being blocked by opposition peers.

The Home Secretary is now looking to introduce the legal changes by an alternative route known as a statutory instrument, which can be implemented more quickly.

Announcing the new measure on Wednesday she said: ‘Selfish, disruptive protesters are wreaking havoc in people’s everyday lives across the country and this must be brought to a stop.

‘This is why we are bringing forward this new law to clearly define serious disruption as requested by police chiefs.

‘Not only will the Public Order Bill introduce new criminal offences for causing serious disruption, but this new legislation also permits the police to clear the roads of slow marching protesters who are hell-bent on causing chaos across the UK.’

Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington, of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said they are ‘committed to responding quickly and effectively to activists who deliberately disrupt people’s lives’.

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