Inside the training sessions where Just Stop Oil’s new recruits are taught how to protest
“I don’t feel guilty about stopping people going to work.”
“I think stopping somebody from going to hospital is one of the most important things. But all the other things – taking people to school and going to work, I think the cause is more important.”
Those were the thoughts of two potential Just Stop Oil recruits when asked if they would feel guilty about disrupting ordinary people.
We were sitting in a circle, during a seven-hour “non-violence” training session in central London.
I’d been invited to capture on camera, for the first time, Just Stop Oil’s training day for all potential recruits.
Heidi, a Just Stop Oil protester gives new recruits a lesson in de-escalation
Anyone who wants to join the climate protest group must attend a day of training, with sessions run across the country.
We experienced a much lower-than-normal turnout – while 12 people had signed up, just five arrived in the morning.
The day was split into two halves.
The first included introductions, meditation, a discussion on entrants’ hopes and fears, and the theory of “non-violence activism”.
Practical techniques were taught after lunch, along with role-plays.
Potential recruits took it in turns to play an angry driver, screaming and swearing into each other’s faces, while practising “de-escalation techniques”.
Just Stop Oil recruits are put through role play scenarios
Some gave it more gusto than others, but it was clear they all understood the public’s rage and frustration.
“We don’t have an ethical right to stop someone going to school,” said Heidi, who ran the session.
“But the government also shouldn’t have the right to issue new oil and gas licences, when it’s going to cause billions of deaths.”
Trainers repeatedly denied that all they are doing is putting people off climate activism.
“People feel threatened by us, but they should be threatened by the government’s inaction about the climate crisis,” said potential recruit Max.
Heidi told the group to “remember their humanity”, adding that they should listen, empathise and watch their body language if accosted on real-life protests.
Just Stop Oil protesters take part in a walking protest blocking Whitehall in central London in November
She told me later that the scenarios were an “extreme” version, but that it’s important they prepare new people for what could face them on the streets.
Later on, they practised “going floppy”, a technique of non-compliance during arrest, where protesters lie down and go limp, forcing several police officers to pick them up and carry them.
The group have been a huge drain on the Metropolitan Police’s already over-stretched resources.
On Wednesday night 16 Just Stop Oil protesters were arrested during a demonstration outside the prime minister’s London home in Kensington.
Just Stop Oil protesters outside Rishi Sunak’s London home on Wednesday night
In the summer, then Home Secretary Suella Braverman revealed the group had cost police more than £18.5m.
Just Stop Oil plan all their actions around the core value of “non-violence”.
Key to that mantra is a refusal to fight back; they can be verbally abused and even beaten on the road, and they won’t respond.
Just Stop Oil protesters on the streets of London during a demonstration
After showing trainees a video of one activist getting kicked on the ground, trainer Paul curled into a ball on the floor, demonstrating how to best protect the internal organs.
He was adamant these training sessions work: “Maybe the proof is that we’ve done hundreds of actions, with thousands of people and they’ve remained peaceful.”
However, there was an implicit recognition throughout the day that their actions could, in a worst-case scenario, result in serious harm, or even death.
Conversations about the policy of letting ambulances pass roadblocks, or the risk of mistakenly causing a traffic accident, got perilously close to an ethical debate of how one death could be balanced against the need to “save billions of lives”.
Read more from Sky News:
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So, how do they justify themselves?
“If non-disruptive protest worked we would be doing that,” Heidi said.
“It’s not because it’s fun, it’s not because we want to disrupt people’s days. We’re doing it because the government desperately needs to change its policy.
Heidi, a Just Stop Oil protester
“And if they don’t change their policy we’re going to see even more disruption.
“The government can end this now by saying they won’t issue any more oil and gas licences.”
Since Just Stop Oil started its disruptive protests, the only laws that have changed have been to strengthen police powers around demonstrations.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, the government announced plans for a new annual system for awarding oil and gas licences in the North Sea.
Just Stop Oil says that this won’t stop them.
From the end of this week, the group will pause its demonstrations for a period of planning, but say they will be back with more protests next year.
UK
More than 500 people arrested after Palestine Action protest – with almost half aged 60 and above
The number of people arrested after a protest in London on Saturday supporting banned group Palestine Action has risen to 532, police have said.
Around half of them (259) were aged 60 and above – including almost 100 people who were in their 70s.
Some 522 arrests were for displaying a placard in support of a proscribed organisation contrary to Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000, according to the Metropolitan Police.
As of 9pm on Saturday, the number was put at 466.
Membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison under the Terrorism Act.
A rally supporting Palestine Action in Parliament Square. Pic: Reuters
One of the arrests took place as the Palestine Coalition march formed in Russell Square, while 521 were at the protest in Parliament Square.
Of those arrested, the biggest number (147) was in the 60-69 age group, while 97 people were aged between 70 and 79, and 15 others were between 80-89.
Six were aged 17-19, sixty-five were in the 20-29 age group, 55 were aged 30-39, 45 were aged 40-49 and 89 were in the 50-59 age group.
The average age of those arrested was 54, while some 263 of those arrested were male, 261 were female and eight either defined themselves as non-binary or did not disclose their gender.
Among the arrests, six were for assaults on officers (none were seriously injured), one was for “obstructing a constable in the execution of his/her duty”, two were for breaching Section 14 Public Order Act conditions, and one was for a racially aggravated public order offence.
People attend the protest in central London. Pic: PA
Hundreds of people attended Saturday’s demonstration in Parliament Square, organised by Defend Our Juries, with the Metropolitan Police warning it would arrest anyone expressing support for Palestine Action.
Anyone who was arrested as part of the operation was taken to one of two prisoner processing points in the Westminster area.
Those whose details could be confirmed were released on bail to appear at a police station at a future date. They were given conditions not to attend future demonstrations related to Palestine Action.
Those who refused to provide their details at the prisoner processing points and those who were found to have been arrested while already on bail, were taken to one of a number of Met Police custody suites.
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Charity Amnesty International described the mass arrests under UK terrorism law as “deeply concerning”.
The crowd, sat on the grass inside Parliament Square, could be seen writing “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action” on white placards at 1pm, with the vast majority remaining silent.
Meanwhile on Sunday, hundreds of people joined a march on Downing Street to urge the release of those being held in Gaza by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
A scuffle broke out after at least two men shouted “Free Palestine” in front of the march.
One man was seen being bundled to the ground close to Trafalgar Square after being surrounded by around a dozen people.
Another man was seen being moved away by police officers after he began shouting.
Amnesty International says it is “deeply concerning” that police made 474 arrests during a Palestine Action demonstration in London.
Metropolitan Police said 466 were detained under the Terrorism Act for showing support for a banned group.
Eight more people were arrested for other offences, including five for assaulting officers.
The Met said it was the most arrests it’s made related to a single operation in at least the past decade.
Pic: PA
Organiser of the event, Defend Our Juries, earlier said up to 700 people were at the event in Parliament Square and claimed police were preparing for the “largest mass arrest in their history”.
The group said those arrested included former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg, NHS workers, quakers and a blind wheelchair user.
Amnesty International UK’s chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said in a statement: “The protesters in Parliament Square were not inciting violence and it is entirely disproportionate to the point of absurdity to be treating them as terrorists.
“Instead of criminalising peaceful demonstrators, the government should be focusing on taking immediate and unequivocal action to put a stop to Israel’s genocide and ending any risk of UK complicity in it.”
The Met said a “significant number of people” at the event were seen “displaying placards expressing support for Palestine Action”.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The right to protest is one we protect fiercely but this is very different from displaying support for this one specific and narrow, proscribed organisation.
“Palestine Action was proscribed based on strong security advice following serious attacks the group has committed, involving violence, significant injuries and extensive criminal damage.”
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Palestine Action supporters arrested at protest
Police said those arrested had been taken to processing points in Westminster and any whose details could be confirmed were bailed on condition they didn’t attend further Palestine Action support events.
Others whose details could not be verified, possibly because they refused to give them, were taken to custody suites across London.
Pic: PA
The protests have put a strain on authorities’ capacity to cope.
Sky News understands senior leaders in the prison service, known as “Capacity Gold”, met today to discuss how to deal with the large number of arrests as the male prison estate is close to full.
It’s understood 800 inmates were moved out of the busiest jails in and around London beforehand.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police Federation said: “Thinking of our colleagues and wishing all assaulted officers well. Remember there are no ‘extra’ police officers – just the same ones having their days off cancelled, having to work longer shifts and being moved from other areas. Officers are emotionally and physically exhausted.”
Read more: What does proscribing a group mean?
Legislation to ban Palestine Action came into force on 5 July, making it a criminal offence to show support for the organisation, carrying a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
Defend Our Juries said earlier this week the protest would still go ahead, following several similar demonstrations since it was outlawed last month.
On Saturday, a spokesperson said: “Palestine Action and people holding cardboard signs present no danger to the public at large.”
Pic: PA
Human rights advocates Amnesty International described the arrests of so many people under UK terrorism law as “deeply concerning”.
Another march organised by the Palestine Coalition, which is a separate group, set off from Russell Square and assembled on Whitehall.
The Met Police said one person had been arrested there for showing a placard in support of Palestine Action.
Pic: Reuters
Earlier this week, three people charged as a result of illegal Palestine Action activity were named.
Jeremy Shippam, 71, of West Sussex, Judit Murray, also 71, of Surrey, and Fiona Maclean, 53, of Hackney in east London, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 16 September.
The ban on Palestine Action faces a legal challenge in November after the High Court granted a full judicial review to Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori.
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