Just Stop Oil has carried out a series of high-profile protests, including disrupting play at Wimbledon and Lords.
The group is campaigning for more action on climate change, but its tactics – which have also included blocking major roads – have faced criticism.
What is Just Stop Oil?
Just Stop Oil is an environmental activist group founded after Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain, with organisers from both at the helm.
It first came to attention following a series of protests in March 2022. This included pitch invasions at several Premier League football grounds.
What does Just Stop Oil want?
Unlike Extinction Rebellion, which campaigns on the single big issue of climate change, Just Stop Oil has a more specific focus.
It describes itself as “a coalition of groups working together” to demand that the government “immediately halt all future licensing and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK.”
In October 2022, the government announced plans to licence up to 100 new oil and gas projects by 2025.
The group also wants greater investment in renewable energy, and better building insulation.
What are Just Stop Oil’s tactics?
Just Stop Oil activists have staged a series of high-profile protests in recent months. Many of these closed roads, including the M25 motorway.
Like Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain, Just Stop Oil activists say they are willing to use “non-violent civil resistance” to make their point in public spaces.
The group says it is committed to ending its protests as soon as the government comes up with a solution to end fossil-fuel production.
Is it legal for Just Stop oil to block roads?
No. The maximum penalty for the wilful obstruction of a highway in England and Wales is 51 weeks in prison. Offenders can also be fined.
Several transport bodies, including National Highways and Transport for London, have sought High Court injunctions to prevent protesters disrupting major roads.
Those in breach of an injunction can be held in contempt of court and could face imprisonment, an unlimited fine and seizure of assets.
Several videos on social media have shown the anger of some motorists stopped from driving by Just Stop Oil activists.
Business Secretary Grant Shapps called the M25 protests “completely outrageous”. “Don’t go disrupting other people’s lives,” he told LBC.
In July, the Metropolitan Police said attending the group’s 515 protests in London since April had cost it £7.7m, the equivalent of 23,500 officer shifts.
During the period, the Met issued 420 Section 12 orders to clear roads and more than 270 people were arrested.
The Met also spent £7.5m policing the group’s activities between October and December 2022.
“This isn’t protest, this is crime – and there is a difference,” Met Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said.
But Just Stop Oil activists point to a Supreme Court ruling in 2021 which found there should be a “certain degree of tolerance to disruption to ordinary life, including the disruption of traffic”, as a result of non-violent protest.
A spokesman told BBC News the group “will continue to resist until the government agrees to end new oil and gas”.
What else is the government doing to tackle protests?
Home Secretary Suella Braverman condemned the Wimbledon protests as “unacceptable”.
Writing on Twitter, she said she had chaired talks at Downing Street with representatives of various sports organisations “to help tackle serious disruption of this kind”.
Dealing with these protests has proved difficult for the authorities, despite arrests and court action.
In May and June 2023, Parliament passed new anti-protest legislation under the Public Order Act.
The laws grant new powers to prosecute someone who interferes with the operation or use of key national infrastructure in England and Wales – including roads, railways, and air transport.
Under previous legislation, the police could generally restrict a protest only if they could show it may result in “serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community”.
But the new legislation lowers the threshold for “serious disruption”, allowing police to respond to action causing more than a minor delay or preventing day-to-day activities such as completing a journey.
The Public Order Act also made locking-on – whereby protesters attach themselves to buildings, objects or other people – a criminal offence.
The government unsuccessfully tried to introduce some of these laws under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act in 2022.
Who funds Just Stop Oil?
According to its website, most of the funding for Just Stop Oil comes from the Climate Emergency Fund – a US network set up in 2019 to fund climate activism.
The Climate Emergency Fund is itself part-funded by Aileen Getty, a US philanthropist whose grandfather was petroleum tycoon J Paul Getty.
Source : BBC
