Just Stop Oil protesters spray Aston Martin showroom in London’s Park Lane with orange paint
Just Stop Oil campaigners have blocked London’s Park Lane and spray-painted the front of a luxury car showroom in their latest protest.
Demonstrators from the environmental group, who are calling for the government to halt all new oil and gas licences, glued themselves to the road in central London at around 11am on Sunday.
One was then filmed spraying the front of Aston Martin’s showroom with bright orange paint.
It comes after Home Secretary Suella Braverman outlined plans to crack down on such protests as part of the Public Order Bill.
Ms Braverman, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Nadhim Zahawi met this morning to apply for a new injunction against Just Stop Oil causing disruption on London’s roads, Sky News understands.
Transport for London already has an order against Insulate Britain, which engages in similar activities, but a separate one needs to be taken out for Just Stop Oil.
Under the home secretary’s plans a new criminal offence would be created for disrupting the functioning of key infrastructure such as airports, railways and oil refineries.
“Locking on” – when people glue themselves to roads or buildings – would be punishable by either six months in prison or an unlimited fine under the new proposals.
Ms Braverman has said she “will not bend to protesters attempting to hold the British public to ransom”.
‘We will not be stopped by injunctions’
On Sunday the protester spraying paint was heard saying: “We will not be stopped by injunctions that are intended to silence protest. We are a non-violent civil disobedience movement.
“We know that the injunctions against us are irrelevant in comparison to mass starvation, with the genocidal policies our government is pushing for, with the 100 fossil fuel licences in the North Sea.”
On Friday, members of the group also threw tomato soup over Van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers painting at the National Gallery.
Two women have since been charged with causing criminal damage.
More activists spray-painted the Metropolitan Police headquarters New Scotland Yard with orange paint earlier this week.
The following day, demonstrators staged further road blocks in London by glueing themselves to roads.
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Activists cover Waitrose floor in milk
And protesters from another group, Animal Rebellion, poured milk on to shop floors, displays and products across the country, including Harrods, on Saturday, calling for a plant-based future and highlighting the need to support farmers in transitioning to such a food system.
Footage shows two protesters pouring milk in a Waitrose store in Edinburgh, while another group was filmed emptying milk bottles on to the floor and across a table laden with cheeses in Fortnum and Mason in London’s Piccadilly.
Comedy writer Bill Dare, – who worked on shows including Spitting Image and Dead Ringers – has died after an accident overseas, his agent said.
Described as a “super producer” by his peers, Dare, 64, worked on eight series of hugely popular satire puppet show Spitting Image.
Airing on ITV during the 1980s and 1990s, the show delighted in lampooning public figures including politicians, celebrities and royalty, winning BAFTAs and Emmys. It was rebooted in 2020.
Dare also created Dead Ringers, a comedy impressions show broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
He also produced The Now Show, a satirical take on the news which ran on Radio 4 from 1998 to 2024.
Dare worked on a wide range of comedy shows during his career, including the radio production of The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He had also written several novels.
In a statement released on Monday, his agent JFL Agency confirmed he died at the weekend.
A spokesperson said: “We are shocked and greatly saddened to have to announce the death of our brilliant client Bill Dare, who died at the weekend following an accident overseas.
“Our thoughts are with his wife Lucy, daughter Rebecca, and with all of Bill’s family and friends who will be devastated by his loss.
“Bill was a truly legendary producer and writer, and his comedy instincts were second to none.”
Oasis depicted on Spitting Image in 1996. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
Colleagues were quick to pay tribute and reflect on his talent.
Impressionist Jon Culshaw wrote on X: “It’s impossible to express the unreal sense of loss at the passing of the incredible Bill Dare. The wisest comedy alchemist and the dearest, dearest friend. Much love to Lucy and all Bill’s family and friends. We shall all miss him more than we can say.”
David Baddiel posted on the social media platform: “Just heard that the original producer of The Mary Whitehouse Experience on radio, Bill Dare, has died. Bill was an amazing creative force. I owe him much. RIP.”
Former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman said she was “devastated” and that her “entire comedy career was down to Bill”.
She wrote: “When I was on the BBC Radio 4 rep company early on in career – I ran into Bill in the corridors – He asked if I was good at accents. I said yes.
“He cast me in a sketch show. I had to do about 15 different accents. We recorded in front of a live audience at Broadcasting House – afterwards Bill said ‘Why have I never met you – you’re going to have a big career’.
“He was incredibly loyal and supportive and really opened a path for me into the R4 comedy world and then TV having come out of the RSC and theatre it was all new. I will always be grateful. Fly high Bill.”
Comedian and writer Mark Steel wrote: “This is so grim. Bill was a compassionate hearty soul with the ability to be beautifully grumpy, a marvellously thoughtful comic mind.
“He’d argue but always listen and you’d always laugh, he made a million shows and wanted them all to matter and would have made a million more.”
Have I Got News for You writer Pete Sinclair said: “I am utterly devastated by Bill’s death. I still can’t believe it. He was a comedy genius. A hugely talented writer as well as a brilliant producer. A close friend and co-writer. I cannot begin to say how much I’ll miss him.”
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Julia McKenzie, comedy commissioner for Radio 4, said: “I am so terribly sorry to hear this tragic news and my thoughts are with Bill’s wife, family and friends.
“Bill has been a huge part of Radio 4 comedy for decades, as a writer and producer, and listeners will have heard his legendary name at the end of many of their favourite shows.
“Bill was a comedy obsessive, and very instinctive about making the funniest choices when it came to writing, directing and editing.
“He cared so much about his work that in the production booth during Dead Ringers you’d see him crouched over the script, utterly focused on the show.
“He was funny and very dry in person, amusingly cynical when he needed to be and always pushed to keep the comedy he made, and particularly satire, spiky.
“I’ve known and worked with him for 18 years and like many I can’t believe he has gone, he will leave a big hole in the comedy world and in our hearts.”
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