London’s Metropolitan Police is “determined to bring to justice” climate protesters who cause disruption on the UK’s busiest motorway, a senior police officer has said.
Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said on Nov. 8 that the force had “responded swiftly and robustly” to attempts by the Just Stop Oil group to disrupt the M25, a busy motorway that encircles Greater London.
“We are all absolutely committed to providing a quick and effective response to those activists who continue to significantly disrupt people’s daily lives,” he said.
He added that operations launched in response to the activists “come at a cost.”
“Since the start of October we have used more than 11,000 officer shifts to police Just Stop Oil protests. These are officers who would otherwise be dealing with issues that matter to local communities such as knife crime, safeguarding, and responding to burglaries,” he said.
Officer Injured
On Nov. 9, a police officer was injured during the third consecutive day of Just Stop Oil protests on the M25.Essex Police said there was a collision involving the police motorcyclist and two lorries during a rolling roadblock introduced while an activist was on the motorway.
The climate group said around 10 of its supporters climbed on to overhead gantries in multiple locations on the M25 from 6.30 a.m.
B.J. Harrington, chief constable of Essex Police, warned it is “only a matter of time” before someone is killed during a Just Stop Oil protest.
He told the Daily Telegraph: “The only way this is going to stop is if Just Stop Oil frankly grow up and realise they are putting people’s lives at risk.”
‘An Awful Situation’
In a statement, Just Stop Oil described the injury to the police officer as “an awful situation” and acknowledged the disruption “should not be happening.”It added: “The failure of our politics has left us with no other option as we seek to protect our rights and freedoms from a collapse in law and order due to a heating world. The government can end this immediately by ending dirty new oil and gas.”
Just Stop Oil, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, has been staging disruptive protests in an attempt to highlight its call for the UK government to begin the process of winding down fossil fuel production in the country.
The group staged 32 days of disruption from the end of September and throughout October, which the Met said resulted in 677 arrests with 111 people charged, and officers working a total of 9,438 additional shifts.
According to Just Stop Oil, its supporters have been arrested more than 2,000 times since its campaign began on April 1, and 15 are currently in prison.
