PROTESTORS FROM JUST Stop Oil, a climate action group whose members threw soup on one of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings last week, have stopped traffic at a key junction in London this morning.
At 10.50am, 22 activists walked into the road at the junction between High Holborn and Kingsway. They sat on the road with banners while some glued themselves to the tarmac.
Police confirmed an hour later that 16 protesters had been arrested and that the roads have since been reopened.
Just Stop Oil have demanded that the government halts all new oil and gas licences and consents.
One of the protesters, Patrick Walker, a 33-year-old council worker from Newport, said: “Up until very recently I really thought the government would eventually take action to save us from the worst of the climate crisis.
“Then the IPCC warned us last year that we had to stop new fossil fuel extraction if we wanted a liveable future, only for governments to completely ignore them.
“I realised then the government wouldn’t listen and I had to take action if I wanted a future for my family. I have no choice but to resist.”
Adam Beard, a 53-year-old gardener from Stroud, Gloucestershire, was also protesting.
He said: “I’m taking action with Just Stop Oil because I’ve had enough of government lies and inaction on the climate crisis, the biggest issue the world is currently facing.
“All over the world we can see the effects of the climate crisis, yet our government continues to back new fossil fuel extraction.
“For the sake of humanity and all life on earth, this has to stop. I hope that my actions in support of Just Stop Oil will inspire other ordinary people like me to step forward and take a stand against this government’s disastrous energy policies.”
A spokesperson for London’s Metropolitan Police said today: “Police have arrested 16 protesters for wilful obstruction of the highway at Kingsway/High Holborn.
“They have been taken into custody at a central London police station. All four junctions are now open.”
The roadblock follows more than two weeks of protests by Just Stop Oil, in which there have been 555 arrests.
Since their campaign began on 1 April, Just Stop Oil supporters have been arrested over 1,800 times, with seven supporters currently in prison and 13 in police custody.
Two of the activists remanded are Morgan Trowland and Marcus Decker, two men who climbed a bridge on Monday morning and blocked off the Dartford Crossing for more than 36 hours.
Yesterday, Just Stop Oil protesters sprayed orange paint on the front of the Harrods department store in Knightsbridge, London.
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