by Just Stop Oil is set to begin two weeks of action from Monday and has accused the government and police of ‘Groundhog Day’ rhetoric on the crackdown on protesters.
Scotland Yard said on Sunday it believed the environmental activist group would kick off two weeks of “disruption” in London in the run up to Christmas.
It comes amid reports that Home Secretary Suella Braverman is to summon police chiefs to Downing Street for a meeting on the crackdown on protests by the group.
Braverman and Police Minister Chris Philp will meet police chiefs and crime commissioners in Downing Street towards the end of the week, a Whitehall source told PA Media.
Braverman has previously accused police of failing in their duty and demanded tougher action against Just Stop Oil activists after they disrupted the M25 motorway earlier this month.
Just Stop Oil has responded to reports that Rishi Sunak is cracking down on protesters. In a statement on Sunday, the group said, “Does this look like Groundhog Day? Haven’t we been here before with the last two Prime Ministers and their Secretaries of State?
“They say repeating the same actions over and over and expecting a different result each time is a sign of madness.
“But we already know the government is misled and out of touch. Blindly pursuing new fossil fuel extractions as the IEA [International Energy Agency]the UN and 99% of the world’s scientists have said that this would lead to the collapse of human civilization is, in the words of UN Secretary General António Guterres, “moral and economic folly”.
Met Police said 755 Just Stop Oil activists were arrested in October and November, with 182 charged.
Commander Karen Findlay said: “Activists are affecting people’s businesses, their lives, whether they are on their way to a doctor, a long-awaited hospital appointment, on the way to work, for interviews or to pick up children.
“Therefore, I again urge the organizers of Just Stop Oil to engage with us to minimize disruption to Londoners.”
The campaign group has pledged to continue its protests until the government agrees to stop all new oil and gas projects.
Last week, two Just Stop Oil activists were found guilty of causing criminal damage after sticking themselves to the frame of a painting by Vincent van Gogh at the National Gallery in London.
Emily Brocklebank, 24, and Louis McKechnie, 22, caused just under £2,000 in damage to the Courtauld Gallery when they tied themselves to the 1889 artwork Peach Trees in Blossom, their trial heard.
The 18th century frame, which is older than the painting itself, had been permanently damaged, District Judge Neeta Minhas told Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
