Eight Just Stop Oil fanatics have been arrested by police after they refused to end their latest slow-march protest in central London today.
Almost 30 protesters, armed with orange banners and wearing hi-vis vests, descended upon Westminster in the eco-mob’s third day of targeted mayhem in the capital this week.
In chaotic scenes, Met Police officers were seen detaining a number of activists in Parliament Square after they allegedly refused to get off the road and move onto the pavement.
Video footage showed one eco-warrior, who yesterday identified herself as a 21-year-old from Melbourne, Australia, being led away by two officers holding her by the arms.
As she was being led away, the activist lambasted the government for ‘restricting us of our basic right to protest’, adding: ‘We are not the first people to march and demand liberty.
One Just Stop Oil protester is seen appearing to be led away by police, after Met officers were forced to make eight arrests following a demonstration in Parliament Square
A number of officers were seen surrounding some of the activists on Wednesday morning
This activist, who yesterday identified herself as a 21-year-old from Melbourne, took the chance to blast the government as she was led away by police
‘This police officer doesn’t want me to speak to you because they do not want the truth to be heard.
‘The police, the Government, the courts are all complicit in the continued licensing of new oil and gas in the full knowledge that this is a death sentence for my generation [and] for billions of people globally.
‘This is criminal and I cannot stand by and do nothing.’
In a statement on Twitter, the Met Police said: ‘8 Just Stop Oil protesters have been arrested #ParliamentSquare after conditions to move out of the road were not complied with.’
The mayhem began at 8.43am when activists clogged Westminster Bridge at rush-hour for their latest slow march.
But they were surrounded by police within four minutes and by 8.53am, the group had been kicked out of the road by the Met Police.
But minutes later, the group resumed their protest, marching through Parliament Square in Westminster, were officers detained eight campaigners.
The swift action came as eco-warriors from the group today compared their chaotic marches to the trailblazing efforts of the suffragettes, who fought for women’s rights in the early 20th century.
Graduate Hannah Taylor, 22, from Derbyshire, is part of Just Stop Oil. She said: ‘Yesterday, I was asked to march on the pavement. Would the suffragettes have marched on the pavement?’
Activists ignored orders by police to stop their protest, which prompted officers to make a number of arrests, the Met said online. A spokesperson added: ‘We’ll continue to tackle serious disruption where it occurs.’
Officers surrounded one activist during the Just Stop Oil protest in Westminster on Wednesday
But the group of climate change protesters were forced off the road by police after just 10 minutes as they tried to make their way towards the Palace of Westminster
Almost 30 Just Stop Oil campaigners were involved in their latest protest in London, marching along Westminster Bridge on Wednesday morning
This morning’s protest comes after exasperated motorists in London lost the plot yesterday during the second day of marches by Just Stop Oil.
One furious man was seen yelling at the protesters, telling them to ‘get out the way’, ‘go and have a wash’ and ‘go and get a job and do something useful’.
He was one of a number of road users who were pushed to breaking point by the activists today, including others who hit the demonstrators with a lorry, tore banners from their hands and threw water over them.
Dressed in a white hoodie and tracksuit bottoms, the dark-haired man jumped out of the car he was travelling in to tell the group: ‘Get the f*** out the way now, get the f*** out the way now, you f****** c****.’
He then adds: ‘Go and have a f****** wash, you c****.’
As the driver of the black Nissan he gets back into remains stuck behind the protest, he then yells at the group again from out the passenger window.
‘Go get a job you f****** c***. Go and do something useful you f****** tramp.
The man was seen yelling at the eco-warriors, telling them to ‘get out the way’, ‘go and have a wash’ and ‘go and get a job and do something useful
Another frustrated road user threw water over the protesters as they blocked vehicles
Protesters on Wednesday were swiftly surrounded by police as they marched along Westminster Bridge. They were forced off the road by officers within 10 minutes (pictured)
‘What do you think of all these f****** cars sitting here causing f****** pollution, you silly f****** c***.
‘Use your f****** brain…you know I’m making sense and all, don’t you, you silly f****** old c***.’
Earlier in the day, police officers were seen chuckling with the protesters during the group’s third slow march in just two days.
One man confronted the climate change fanatics by tearing banners away from protesters and pushing them as tensions flared.
Dressed in a white polo shirt and shorts, he appeared to shove protesters as they caused traffic chaos in Elephant and Castle, marching slowly in front of a lorry.
‘Get out the f***ing way before you get run over,’ he shouts before adding: ‘Get out the f***ing way you p****s’ as he apparently pushes a group of eco-zealots and then yanks an orange banner off another.
More than a dozen protesters joined the demonstration in the capital this morning, with one activist among their ranks claiming to have been from Melbourne in Australia.
Frustrated motorists could be heard beeping their horns and swearing at the campaigners, who forced traffic to grind to a halt.
Fury boiled over as one man is seen apparently pushing Just Stop Oil protesters during their latest slow march in London
The male, wearing a white polo shirt and shorts, was seen ripping away orange banners from the climate change campaigners
A motorist unleashes a foul-mouthed tirade at the group in his frustration earlier today
A frustrated driver stands up to one of the Just Stop Oil activists to make his case this morning
One stepped out of their car to hurl abuse at the group, as campaigners were pictured locking arms in defiance.
While in another tense exchange, one lorry driver is heard saying: ‘You can’t stop oil, oil is in the Earth.’
Today’s mayhem began at Newington Causeway, in Elephant and Castle shortly after 8.45am, with campaigners calling for an end to all new oil, gas and coal projects in the UK.
Escorted by about a dozen Metropolitan Police officers, the Just Stop Oil fanatics walked in the middle of the road holding orange banners and wearing hi-vis jackets as an ambulance is filmed struggling to get past them.
Campaigners ignored pleas from one officer to shift their demonstration onto the pavement, as it triggered mayhem in the city centre, with buses passing perilously close to activists.
While another officer was filmed chuckling with one of the activists as they walked backwards down the road.
Pleading with activists as cars and buses pass perilously close, one female officer says: ‘Can you please move on to the pavement. Move onto the pavement please, guys.
‘Continue the protest but move onto the pavement.’
The male confronted the group, who were blocking traffic in Elephant and Castle and screamed: ‘Get out the f***ing way before you get run over’
Moments later, and an activist called Hannah is filmed giving a speech as she marches.
The 21-year-old claimed to have lived in Melbourne – which is a 10,500-mile flight away from the British capital.
She said: ‘I’m from Melbourne, Australia. I have seen first hand the things that I love on fire.
‘I have feared for my life and the lives of people that I love. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.’
Since Just Stop Oil launched its campaign on February 14, 2022, the group says its activists have been arrested more than 2,100 times, with 138 people spending time in prison.
Two of its supporters are serving three-year prison sentences for being involved in protests, the group added.
Founded after Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain, with organisers from both at the helm, Just Stop Oil wants the Government to wants to halt new licences for the exploration of oil and other fossil fuels in the UK.
Activists are pictured on Wednesday marching over Westminster Bridge in their latest protest in London
Software developer Lewis Conroy, 22 and from Stirling, took part in Wednesday’s march.
He said: ‘We’re running out of time. Every day we hear more and more news of apocalyptic weather events and hear tales of more and more farmers going out of business, because their crops are failing.
‘Anyone not corrupted by the oil industry knows that new oil, gas and coal is completely suicidal. History shows we need to get on the streets.
‘As annoying as it can be, this is how change happens.’
Just Stop Oil is planning another protest on Saturday outside the House of Commons.
