Just Stop Oil protest group announced that they would not be disrupting the M25’s action starting Friday because they believe some of their younger activists are currently in prison.
After activists attacked the motorway for four days, the group released the following statement: “Just Stop Oil will stop its civil resistance campaign on the M25 from today.”
“We are giving time for those in Government who are in touch and in tune with reality to think about their responsibilities to the country at this moment.
“We request that the Prime Minister review his Cop27 speech, in which he discussed the dire consequences of global warming, the 33,000 people who have been displaced by flooding in Pakistan and the moral and financial imperative to honour our promises.
“You can’t just rehash words and promises. You owe it to the British people to do something.”
Emma Brown from Just Stop Oil did not comment on whether the protest group would resume actions on the M25 after they announced that they had halted their disruption of Friday’s motorway.
When asked about stories of people missing funerals or the personal impact of protests on members of the public, the spokesperson said that many of their supporters were also in prison.
“Now that we know what the consequences of our actions are, we can take them.
It is a reason why many young people, such as 20-year-olds are in prison. That’s another factor.
Ms Brown stated that she was giving the Government another chance of discussing with her and meeting our demand. This is the obvious answer we all want to hear, which is no new oil for the UK.
She wouldn’t say whether campaigners could go back to the M25 if they don’t meet their demands, but she said: “How do we stop?” This is a danger to our lives and the lives of all our listeners. We can’t stop.”
Mishal Husain, the presenter, used the example of Tony Bambury who was stuck in traffic because of protests and missed his father’s funeral.
Ms Brown stated that she felt terrible about it. It’s upsetting to see these things happen and to know that disruption is causing such a large amount of disruption because people obviously have important things to do.
“But I believe that the action is proportionate. It’s proportionate to the possible deaths of millions of people, and billions of climate refugees over the next 20 years. It’s proportionate to this.
When asked why Mr Bambury should pay the price, the activist replied: “It’s just like the nurse’s strike or the rail strike.
“We are not trying to disrupt people but the actions do disrupt people because that is all that we have as normal citizens.
“We are causing short-term disruption to national infrastructure in order to achieve a greater win. This is something we all need.”
Warnings and disruptions to the M25 for four days
Environmental activists have been climbing gantries high above the motorway for the past four days, forcing it to be closed in many places.
The group stated that they were giving the Government time to review its responsibilities and asked for the Prime Minister to reconsider his Cop27 speech, in which he discussed the dire consequences of global warming, the floods in Pakistan and the moral and financial imperative to honour our promises.
During Wednesday’s protests, a police officer was hurt.
According to Essex Police, there was an accident involving the police motorcyclist with two lorries in a rolling roadblock.
BJ Harrington, Chief Constable, warned that it was only a matter “of time” before someone is murdered during a JSO demonstration.
JSO stated Friday that Just Stop Oil supporters are now those who uphold law and order and protect civil society. People in this country are allowed to disrupt the order of affairs to prevent more harm. We won’t stand by, according to British law.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated Wednesday that his Government was “moving forward” with legislation to give police greater powers to stop protests from groups like JSO.
He made these comments after Ben Spencer, Conservative MP for Runnymede & Weybridge, said in the Commons the M25 protests were “causing disruption and misery among my constituents”, including problems with access to my local hospital.
Sunak replied that he was moving forward with legislation to give police the power they need to end extremist protests.
JSO organized 32 days of disruption starting at the end of September through October. The Metropolitan Police reported that 677 people were arrested and 111 people were charged. There were also 9,438 additional shifts.
JSO reports that its supporters were arrested more than 2000 times since April 1, when the campaign began.
