The actions of Just Stop Oil protesters are “criminal, reckless and dangerous” and must not be tolerated any longer, a police chief has warned as demonstrations on the M25 entered their fourth day.
Activists from the group have been demonstrating on the UK’s busiest motorway on and off for weeks, causing junctions to be closed and travel chaos for motorists.
Speaking to Sky News, Essex Police Chief Constable BJ Harrington warned that their actions are “unlawful” and “dangerous”.
“No protest activity should or can be in a position where it puts lives at risk – their lives, the lives of the public on the roads, and my officers,” he said.
His warning comes after a police officer was injured in a crash with two lorries while responding to protests on the motorway on Wednesday.
While his injuries were only minor, CC Harrington said this was thanks to his protective equipment and could have been worse, and it is “only a matter of time” before someone gets killed.
“There is a lot of sympathy for Just Stop Oil in terms of what they are trying to achieve. But putting people’s lives in danger, themselves, the public and my officers, is just not acceptable, and they have got to stop doing it,” he said.
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Oil protester climbs M25 gantry
Multiple arrests on Britain’s busiest motorway
Earlier on Thursday, the force said officers had arrested a woman who was trying to climb a gantry around 1.5 miles from Junction 28 clockwise.
“One lane was closed for a short time as officers responded to the situation,” the force said.
The Metropolitan Police said: “We’re ready to respond to any criminality on the M25 again today and will work quickly to minimise disruption and keep traffic moving.”
It added it was removing a person from a gantry near Junction 25 and that an individual was arrested for causing a public nuisance.
Kent Police said its officers are continuing to assist other forces in responding to any offences and disruptions elsewhere.
The force also arrested five people on Thursday after a suspicious vehicle was stopped on the M25 in Westerham.
Officers on patrol searched the car and seized climbing equipment including harnesses, D-locks and banners.
Two women aged 20 and 21, and three men aged 50, 45 and 18 were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit public nuisance.
Reports on social media suggested there was a protest between Junctions 15 and 16, near Heathrow Airport.
Just Stop Oil said its supporters climbed gantries “in multiple locations” from 6.30am on Thursday.
Just Stop Oil demonstrator Phoebe Plummer, a 21-year-old student from London, said: “I understand people must be frustrated with us, and rightly so.
“But we have to disrupt daily life because we are hurtling towards climate catastrophe, yet the government continues to betray me, my generation and people in the global south by issuing newoil licences.”
Just Stop Oil staged 32 days of disruption from the end of September and throughout October, resulting in 677 arrests and 111 people charged, with Met Police officers working a total of 9,438 additional shifts.
National Highways subsequently secured a High Court injunction to prevent Just Stop Oil protesters from disrupting England’s busiest motorway.
Essex Police said it had charged three people following Just Stop Oil protests at multiple junctions on the M25 on Wednesday.
The force said Daniel Johnson, 24, of Blairgowrie, Perth and Kinross; Paul Bell, 20, of St Germans Road, Exeter; and Theresa Higginson, 24, of Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, have all been charged with causing a public nuisance and have been remanded in custody.
They will appear at Basildon Magistrates’ Court via video link later today.
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party.
The 53-year-old MP is the first to jump ship since the general election and in her resignation letter criticised the prime minister for accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts.
She told Sir Keir Starmer the reason for leaving now is “the programme of policies you seem determined to stick to”, despite their unpopularity with the electorate and MPs.
In her letter she accused the prime minister and his top team of “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” which are “off the scale”.
“I’m so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party,” she said.
Since December 2019, the prime minister received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality – a specific category in parliament’s register of MPs’ interests.
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Ms Duffield, who has previously clashed with the prime minister on gender issues, attacked the government for pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies as she resigned the Labour whip.
She criticised the decision to keep the two-child benefit cap and means-test the winter fuel payment, and accused the prime minister of “hypocrisy” over his acceptance of free gifts from donors.
“Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous,” she said.
“I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.”
Ms Duffield also mentioned the recent “treatment of Diane Abbott”, who said she thought she had been barred from standing by Labour ahead of the general election, before Sir Keir said she would be allowed to defend her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat for the party.
Her relationship with the Labour leadership has long been strained and her decision to quit the party comes after seven other Labour MPs were suspended for rebelling by voting for a motion calling for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished.
“Someone with far-above-average wealth choosing to keep the Conservatives’ two-child limit to benefit payments which entrenches children in poverty, while inexplicably accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses costing more than most of those people can grasp – this is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour prime minister,” she said.
Ms Duffield said she will continue to represent her constituents as an independent MP, “guided by my core Labour values”.
The King has paid tribute to Scotland as a “uniquely special place” for the Royal Family as he marked the 25th anniversary of the Scottish parliament.
At the ceremony to commemorate a quarter of a century since parliament opened at Holyrood, the King said: “Speaking from a personal perspective, Scotland has always had a uniquely special place in the hearts of my family and myself.
“My beloved grandmother was proudly Scottish, my late mother especially treasured the time spent at Balmoral, and it was there in the most beloved of places, where she chose to spend her final days.”
He said we are all “united by our love of Scotland”, paying tribute to its “natural beauty”, “strength of character”, “diversity of its people”, “passions and frequently deeply held beliefs”.
“From the central belt to the north Highlands, across the islands in Ayrshire, in the Borders, the cities, towns and villages, all the coastal communities, who I wonder, could not fail to be moved by this complex Caledonian kaleidoscope?,” he asked as presiding officer Alison Johnstone and the Queen sat beside him.
After he gave the speech, the King was hugged by a member of the public – who said she did so “because of him being unwell”.
The 75-year-old was diagnosed with cancer in February but has since returned to public duties.
Yvonne Macmillan, 59, from East Renfrewshire, attended the anniversary ceremony with her husband Russell who is registered blind and chosen as a “local hero” for work in their area.
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“I asked him if he was feeling better and if I could give him a hug. I actually said to him: ‘Can I hug you?’,” she said.
“As I hugged him I said, ‘God bless you’, so it was like God giving him a hug.”
While Sir Tony Blair’s Labour government legislated for Scottish devolution in 1997 – parliament officially opened at Holyrood on 1 July 1999.
The King has made six visits to the parliament since 1999 – while his mother Queen Elizabeth II made 10 visits during her lifetime.
Scottish First Minister John Swinney is one of a number of MSPs who have been at Holyrood since the start of devolution.
He said in his own speech in Edinburgh on Saturday that the parliament has “placed itself at the very heart of the nation”, describing it as a “vessel of enlightenment, invention and creativity”.
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The SNP’s Christine Grahame is another MSP who has been there since the start.
“Free tuition, free prescriptions, game-changing policies to tackle child poverty, the ban on smoking, the baby box, ScotRail back in public ownership – none of this would have been possible without the Scottish parliament and the strength of our commitment to self-determination,” she said on Saturday.
The King said the devolved parliament has the ability to “touch and to improve the lives of so many individuals”.
But he added that “there remains much more to be done” for Scotland, the rest of the UK, particularly with regards to climate change.
“Let this moment therefore be the beginning of the next chapter,” he told those assembled.
“The achievement of the past and the commitment shown in the present give us the soundest basis for confidence in the future.”
A moped riding phone thief was caught red-handed after police tracked the device down hours after he snatched it from a woman’s hand.
CCTV footage released by police showed a masked moped rider mount the pavement in Croydon, south London, to swipe a phone from a woman’s hand on 6 March, while another victim had theirs stolen while they waited for a bus an hour later.
Amari Scott, 20, looked surprised when confronted by officers inside a shop, where he was found with two mobile phones.
“We’ve just had a moped rob a mobile phone off the pavement and the phone is pinging in this location,” one of the officers told him in body-worn camera footage before Scott was handcuffed and led away.
Police also recovered a stolen motorbike and Scott, from Sutton, south London, was later jailed for four years.
Two teenagers who committed four robberies in the space of just half an hour were also arrested as part of a crackdown in Croydon.
Aged 16 and 17, the teens were issued with referral orders after pleading guilty to charges of robbery, attempted robbery and attempted grievous bodily harm.
One of the teenagers tried to discard a knife before she was arrested after a foot chase, telling officers: “The knife wasn’t mine”.
The other ran away, leaving a knife and his bag, but was lying in bed at home when he was arrested shortly after.
The Metropolitan Police said officers are intensifying efforts to tackle robbery and theft, encouraging victims to report incidents as they happen to increase the chances of catching the criminals.
Chief Inspector James Weston said: “We understand the impact that robbery has on victims – it is invasive and frightening.
“That’s why our teams are working so hard to deter and catch offenders to reassure our local community.
“Thanks to the hard work of officers, our partners and community grassroots organisations, we are stepping up our efforts and tackling the issues that matter most to the people of Croydon.”