This is the moment a furious motorist rips three Just Stop Oil banners from the hands of the eco-zealots and dumps them on the side of the road as commuters were subjected to yet another slow march on the capital.
The lobby group, which aims to pressure the government into abandoning fossil fuels once and for all, is partway through a six-week campaign of disruption in London.
Having disrupted Wimbledon twice on Wednesday with confetti and jigsaw pieces, the protesters continued to cause fury with their slow marches – this time in Vauxhall and Pimlico.
Footage shows one frustrated motorist running up to at least a dozen Just Stop Oil demonstrators before ripping one of the banners out of their hands. On a rampant pursuit, he then grabs two more before dumping them all on the side of the road and returning to his vehicle.
The group’s latest action comes in the wake of protesters facing unprecedented lifetime bans at Wimbledon as Labour donor Dale Vince continues to defend their action, admitting they will continue to disrupt ‘high-profile’ sports.
Just Stop Oil continued their six-week campaign of disruption in London today as they targeted Vauxhall, south west London
This is the moment a furious motorist rips three Just Stop Oil banners from the hands of the eco-zealots
After grabbing the banners from their hands, the angry motorist then dumped them on the side of the road
The Metropolitan Police confirmed that it was forced to stop three marches this morning
Just Stop Oil’s breach of Court 18 at SW19 also came after two protesters had invaded the pitch at Lord’s cricket ground and threw orange powder during the second Ashes Test. England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow was hailed as a ‘hero’ by his team-mate Josh Tongue for carrying one eco-zealot off the pitch.
In separate footage posted by Just Stop Oil this morning, the group were seen marching by the Park Plaza Victoria London hotel on Vauxhall Bridge Road with placards which read: ‘Just Stop Oil’, ‘We won’t die quietly’, Climate Collapse = Economic collapse, and ‘Can’t eat oil’.
The group revealed that 26 members in three groups started marching and blocking traffic at 8am this morning. All marches were finished by 8.38am but they warned more could come today.
The group claimed that a van forced itself through the crowd during a march in Vauxhall, while they also experienced ‘aggression from road users’.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed two protests on Vauxhall Bridge Road and one on South Lambeth Road.
A spokesman for the force said: ‘We’ve been on scene with three groups of #protesters this morning. We were made aware of two groups on Vauxhall Bridge Road and one on South Lambeth Road.
‘All groups were issued section 12 conditions and the roads were cleared quickly within minutes.’
Jane Touil, 56, one of those marching in the road today said: ‘Licensing new oil and gas is a crime against humanity. I cannot stand by and do nothing, knowing that millions are going to die.’
‘Our government is lying about the need for new oil, gas and coal. We have the solutions and if we implement them quickly, climate breakdown will not be so severe. If we carry on this path, human civilisation will collapse within my lifetime and billions will die. It’s already starting to happen.’
Yesterday, police were called to stop slow marches in Blackfriars Road and Tower Bridge, as activists in groups of just four people forced cars into a grinding halt. One man in a white van was filmed shouting ‘get out of the road’ as traffic sped past a gang of activists.
It comes after environmental group activists threw orange confetti and jigsaw pieces onto Court 18 at Wimbledon
Wimbledon are planning to give the Just Stop Oil protestors an unprecedented lifetime ban
It also comes after Jonny Bairstow removed a Just Stop Oil protester from the pitch during day one of the second Ashes Test match at Lord’s
This morning’s action comes after Labour leader Keir Starmer frantically tried to distance himself from the activities of Just Stop Oil. Sir Keir condemned disruptive protests as ‘arrogant’ yesterday, after his own speech in Kent was interrupted by climate activists.
The Labour leader said of JSO: ‘I just think they need to just stop.
‘Particularly this last week, they’ve been interrupting iconic sporting events, causing massive disruption.
‘There’s a huge arrogance involved, that they’re the only people that understand the argument, that their tactics are going to win.
‘And when I put what they’re doing against what we set out in our mission about clean energy, about net zero, you can see the difference between protest and power.
‘Glueing yourself, interrupting, interfering with other people’s lives in this arrogant way, compared with the actual change we can bring about, which is with a Labour government absolutely committed to clean power by 2030.’
Sir Keir condemned disruptive protests as ‘arrogant’ yesterday, after his own speech in Kent was interrupted by climate activists
But eco entrepreneur Dale Vince warned that climate change is the ‘real disruption’.
The businessman, who has donated money both to the protest group and Labour, said rain had a bigger impact on the tennis Grand Slam.
Appearing on the BBC’s Question Time, he claimed that the weather was getting worse and that would ‘come home to roost’ in sports events.
Pressed last night on whether he supported the disruption of sports events, Mr Vince – founder of green energy firm Ecotricity – said: ‘If you look at Wimbledon yesterday, rain stopped play more than the protesters did.
‘The protest is vital.’
He added: ‘If you look at what’s happening in the climate crisis, we are creating more rain, more events of rain and intense rain, so this is the climate coming home to roost in sporting events.’
Asked if he backed the protests, Mr Vince said: ‘There is a greater harm going on in the world. The climate crisis according the the UN has already killed four million people and every year it makes 20million homeless. That’s a real disruption.’
Dale Vince, who has donated money both to Just Stop Oil and Labour, said rain had a bigger impact on Wimbledon than protests, and the weather was getting worse due to climate change
As Just Stop Oil continue to disrupt events, high-profile names including Holly Willoughby and Gary Lineker have come under fire for defending the group as they are branded as hypocrites.
Mr Lineker, 62, said the attention-seeking eco warriors were ‘not going to hurt anyone’ and that he understood ‘where they’re coming from’.
Speaking after chairing an environmental panel at Wimbledon, Lineker said: ‘I completely understand where they’re coming from. Disruptive protest is the only one that gets any publicity.
‘I get it. I also understand why people get so upset with it, particularly in sport. It is a difficult one.
‘I think what is more important is probably our existence in the future rather than slight disruption of sporting events or other things.
But tennis fans blasted the former England footballer after his comments yesterday.
Gary Lineker was slammed as a ‘hypocrite in the highest order’ for defending Just Stop Oil eco-clowns who disrupted two matches at Wimbledon this week
Holly Willoughby said she could understand Just Stop Oil’s fears about climate change because she was worried about hearing that the planet had had its hottest day since records began
Less than a year ago, Lineker flew more than 4,000 miles to present at the Qatar World Cup.
One social media user said: ‘Lineker is a hypocrite of the highest order.
‘We’re sick of hearing his vomit inducing virtue signalling sanctimonious and supercilious claptrap.’
Another said: ‘This man is a disgrace.’
‘You don’t want things to be disrupted but at the same time they will really be disrupted with climate change.
‘From what I’ve seen… splashing a bit of paint on a piece of glass where there is a painting behind, throwing jigsaw puzzles and a bit of confetti is not going to hurt anyone,’ he said.
Meanwhile Ms Willoughby was yesterday accused of talking ‘hypocritical sanctimonious tripe’ by furious This Morning viewers as she revealed her sympathy for Just Stop Oil’s eco clowns.
Ms Willoughby was recently at the centre of a controversy which began over her alleged backstage feud with former co-host Phillip Schofield and culminated in him being axed from This Morning. Schofield later dramatically resigned from ITV after admitting lying to The Mail on Sunday about his affair with a colleague.
Her guest, LBC radio presenter Nick Ferrari, told her: ‘A lot of my listeners have said, ”Please don’t cover Just Stop Oil”.’ She then responded: ‘But then you look, we had the hottest day globally on record…’
Ferrari said: ‘We have got a massive problem. Those spectators, what are they meant to do? All that has happened is their afternoon has been disrupted. We don’t make the decisions, so what are we going to do? You disrupt the cricket, the rugby…’
Ms Willoughby replied: ‘I know, I understand. But I guess their hope is someone higher up will make a difference.’
Her comments came just a week after she chartered a helicopter to take her the 136 miles from London to Glastonbury.
In response to today’s march, a spokesman for Just Stop Oil said: ‘There is a direct link between pumping oil and mass human death. Last summer, we had a taste of it with thousands of excess deaths recorded during a heatwave.
‘In Europe, we suffered the worst drought in 500 years, wildfires, and flooding – this will only get worse. It will claim more and more lives each year. That’s our family’s lives on the line. It’s time to pick a side – oil and gas profits or human life.
‘New oil and gas is genocide, and oil pumped from the North Sea will be sold off by rich foreign investors without providing any energy security for the UK. Switching to renewable energy will secure jobs at home and stop deadly emissions.’
