Met Police mobilise 900 officers against Just Stop Oil amid fears they will cause mayhem in London

Hundreds more police will be mobilised into London this weekend in an aggressive crackdown on Just Stop Oil eco-zealots following a month of mayhem.

Up to 900 extra Metropolitan Police officers will be patrolling the city’s streets amid fears the hard-line environmental group will renew its militant campaign of protests.

The group staged 32 days of disruption from the end of September and throughout October, which the Met said resulted in 677 arrests with 111 people charged, and officers working a total of 9,438 extra shifts.

Just Stop Oil campaigners agreed to a temporary ceasefire earlier this week, saying they would give the Government until Friday evening to respond to their request to stop investing in new oil and gas.

They are expected to renew road-blocking demonstrations on Saturday, when there will also be train strikes in the capital and across the country. 

Speaking outside Scotland Yard on Friday, Met Commander Jon Savell asked the public to ‘bear with’ police tackling any unlawful protests, and said there would be ‘up to 900’ extra officers deployed in London this weekend.

‘We will have hundreds of extra officers on duty this weekend in and around the areas where we believe that they will be, and we will be responding to them as and when they appear,’ he told the PA news agency. 

‘We will help facilitate them protesting lawfully, but where they cross the boundaries we will act quickly.’

He added: ‘It is unfortunate that it coincides with the train strikes and there will inevitably be protests in the roads and some of the more iconic places.

‘We will work quickly to try and minimise that disruption, and we would just ask the public to bear with us.

‘But if there are issues, be reassured that we have hundreds of extra officers on duty, we will be there, and we will take action where it’s needed.’

Asked about the impact of the protests on the Met’s capacity to police serious and violent crime, Mr Savell said the force would be ‘able to manage’ and community policing would ‘continue at the levels we would expect to deliver’.

‘It does take up a lot of resources, not only for us but for the lawyers and the court systems,’ he said.

‘That is time and resources that could be better used in tackling community crime, robberies and violence that is a priority for us, but we are here to deal with anything that is unlawful and the public can rely on us.’

Earleir this week. the eco-warriors Just Stop Oil declared a temporary ceasefire in their campaign of ‘civil resistance’ – with a ransom note warning of plans to ‘escalate’ their demonstrations.

The group says it is planning to ‘pause’ on its road-blocking protests for at least three days while it waits for a response from the Government over its demands to stop licenses for new oil and gas sites in the UK.

But the group have vowed to continue their protests again – and even ‘escalate’ them – if their demands are not met by November 4.

In a post on Twitter, the group said: ‘From today, Just Stop Oil will pause its campaign of civil resistance. We are giving time to those in the Government who are in touch with reality to consider their responsibilities to this country at this time. 

‘If, as we sadly expect, we receive no response from ministers to our demand by the end of Friday, November 4, we will escalate our legal disruption against this treasonous Government. Our action will be proportionate to the task of stopping the crime against humanity which is new oil and gas.’

It comes as Just Stop Activists attempted to target Trafalgar Square in their latest traffic-stopping eco-protest, only to be quickly moved on by police. 

The eco-zealots attempted to block traffic around the central London monument this afternoon. But they were met with a heavy police presence and quickly removed from roads.

Attempting to revive their flailing protest the group instead took to hollering slogans from the pavement – away from their usual target of traffic.

It comes after eco-warriors from the group made a half-hearted attempt to scale the gates of Downing Street on Tuesday – a day after their month of action officially came to an end.

But they were quickly stopped by armed police guarding the entrance. The officers easily pushed back the activists, who were then detained. 

Nearby, other protests from Just Stop Oil attempted to block Whitehall, near the Cenotaph. But once again police quickly intervened, moving aside the eco-warriors as they unfurled a Just Stop Oil banner.  

The protest took place after the group’s month of action in October came to an end yesterday – making today’s demonstration the 32nd consecutive day of protests.

The eco-warriors had promised to take part in protests every day in October with the aim of convincing the Government to stop granting permission for new oil and gas sites.

Speaking on Tuesday, a Just Stop Oil spokesperson said: ‘At 11:15 this morning, 22 Just Stop Oil supporters swarmed towards the gates of Downing Street.

‘A number of them attempted to scale the gates while others sat down in the road to block the entrance, with some gluing their hands to the tarmac.’

On Monday activists from the group targeted the Home Office by spraying orange paint against the front of its headquarters. 

It comes after a member of the public defied police calls to not ‘directly intervene’ with Just Stop Oil activist.

The frustrated passerby was seen tackling a protester as they sprayed orange paint across a building using a fire extinguisher on Monday.

Video captured the moment the furious passerby jostled with the climate activist for the device and sprayed them with paint as they doused the front of the MI5 building on Millbank in Westminster.

Tez Burns, a 34-year-old bicycle mechanic from Swansea, could be heard saying ‘I don’t want to do this’ but added that their ‘simple’ demand was for ‘no new fossil fuel licenses’ in an expletive-laden exchange with the member of the public this morning. 

After the incident, Burns said: ‘The government has taken our future, I want our future back. It’s criminal inaction.

‘The government does nothing. What does it do? It issues new fossil fuel licenses, it says we need to drain every last drop of oil out of the North Sea. 

‘That goes against everything that all of these internationally respected bodies are telling us.’

They continued: ‘Here I am, an ordinary person having to do this. You think I like it? No, this is something that I feel is a duty that I have to do as a citizen of the UK, when our government is criminal. I’m devastated. I’m furious.’ 

It comes despite police last week pleading with the public to call them to deal with eco-protesters instead of taking matters into their own hands. 

So far six eco-activists have been arrested for criminal damage after using fire extinguishers to douse paint on the Home Office and MI5 building, the Bank of England on Threadneedle Street in the City of London and the headquarters of News Corp at London Bridge. 

The MI5 building was one of four chosen by the group that they say represent the pillars that support and maintain the power of the fossil fuel economy – government, security, finance and media.

Later, activists sat in the middle of the road on Victoria Street outside the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Three people were arrested on suspicion of obstruction of the highway and taken into custody at a central London police station, with the road re-opening soon after. 

Speaking about Monday’s protest, a Just Stop Oil spokesman said: ‘We are not prepared to stand by and watch while everything we love is destroyed, while vulnerable people go hungry and fossil fuel companies and the rich profit from our misery.

‘The era of fossil fuels should be long gone, but the creeping tentacles of fossil fuel interests continue to corrupt our politics, government and the media as they have for decades.

‘How else do you explain a government ignoring sensible no-brainer policies like renewables, insulation and public transport, which would cut our energy bills and our carbon emissions, in favour of corrupt schemes to drill for uneconomic oil and gas at taxpayers expense?

‘Well we’re done with begging. We are acting to stop new oil and gas because it is the right thing to do. As citizens, as parents we have every right under British law to protect ourselves and those we love. 

‘The government has the power to end the disruption today by agreeing to stop new oil and gas licences and consents.’