‘The public has had enough’: Police condemn Just Stop Oil after 60 arrested

Police have condemned Just Stop Oil after arresting more than 60 protesters who carried out a demonstration next to parliament in Westminster.

After marching through central London, members of the activist group sat and laid down on the ground in Parliament Square.

Activist Victoria Lindsell, 68, said: “We will stop the moment Rishi Sunak listens to our demands, which are ‘no new licences for fossil fuels’.”

Protesters were seen wearing orange hi-vis vests and many were placed in handcuffs by officers after refusing to move from the area.

Commander Kyle Gordon said it was an “extremely busy time” for officers across London who have been “providing reassurance to communities” following the escalation of the Israel and Hamas conflict.

“It’s unacceptable that we are having to remove officers, who are carrying out vital work in their communities at a time where there is a large number of hate crime being reported to us, to police Just Stop Oil,” he said.

“We also know the majority of the public has reached their tolerance with Just Stop Oil, which on occasion is over-spilling into violence. It’s clear the public has had enough.”

The Metropolitan Police said officers take into account “a person’s right to protest” before making an arrest, but if a demonstrator “disproportionately interferes with road transport infrastructure” one can be made under section seven of the Public Order Act.

Mr Gordon added: “We recognise that many people are fed up with disruptive protests but we also have a duty to make sure anyone who wants to protest lawfully can do so.”

He said previous protests of a similar nature “significantly impacted” people who missed hospital appointments, family occasions and travel for holidays.

Campaigner Matt Cunningham, 26, said he was taking part because the government had “blatantly ignored its own climate advisers”.

Mr Cunningham, from Suffolk, added: “I have a five-month-old nephew and I can’t face the thought that his future is destroyed by people who don’t care and just want profit.”

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Anita Kempf, 61, who was on holiday in London from Switzerland, said she thought the protest in Parliament Square would “not change anything”.

“We should just ignore them. It doesn’t achieve anything, protesting like that,” she added.

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Just Stop Oil posted on social media that 65 people were a part of the march to demand “an end to new oil and gas”.

They added in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Ordinary people are in the road at Parliament Square, calling out our government’s genocidal policy of new fossil fuels.”