London’s Metropolitan Police have finally shown signs of cracking down on the eco-loon Just Stop Oil protesters, who have been blocking roads in the capital for months. The Mail has more.
Eco-zealots Just Stop Oil have targeted motorists again with the latest in their serious of tedious slow marching protests – drawing a predictably irate reaction.
The group – who want the end of fossil fuel projects – were shuffling from Princes Street in the direction of Bank Junction this morning.
But the Met Police appear to have finally discovered the way to stop them.
This morning Superintendent Matt Cox issued the group with a Section 12 order, meaning they have to stay off the road or face arrest.
Their Groundhog Day-style cycle of slow road marches are in their third week, but JSO say they are going to continue until the fossil fuel ban is met.
But the protest group has become frustrated by the police tactic of issuing the order.
It adds a condition to “any public procession” and has curtailed the activists’ demonstrations in the past few days.
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson fumed: “The Public Order Bill and specifically Section 12 notices are being used to remove the British public’s right to peacefully oppose Government policies that threaten the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
“Marching has been an integral means of bringing about social change for centuries, be it for those seeking universal suffrage, those seeking to gain equality, or those seeking to make transport accessible for disabled people.”
The right to protest is important, of course. But the disruption must be within bounds, and Just Stop Oil with its repeated blocking of busy London roads has clearly overstepped the line. It needs to find less disruptive ways to protest.
Worth reading in full.
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