Just Stop Oil said “around 15” of its supporters climbed onto cranes at “several locations” on the UK’s busiest motorway from 7am, prompting police to stop traffic. Essex Police said officers were on the northbound carriageway of the M25 near the Dartford Crossing where a protester, believed to be from Just Stop Oil, had climbed onto the bridge at junction 31, blocking the northbound tunnels. The National Highway reported delays of 60 minutes, with congestion for five miles. Hertfordshire Police said they were responding to a protest at junction 20 of the M25 near Kings Langley and urged motorists to seek alternative routes. Surrey Police said two protesters climbed onto the crane bridges between junctions 8 and 9 and junctions 12 and 13, stopping traffic in both directions. The Metropolitan Police arrested seven people ahead of Monday’s protest on suspicion of “conspiracy to intentionally or recklessly cause a public nuisance”, a new offense under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The protest continued, with forces including Kent, Essex, Surrey and Hertfordshire facing protesters in 13 locations. Apart from the arrests, the police believe that some of those involved in the protests could be violating the high court order taken by the National Road. Just Stop Oil said in a statement: “We will not be intimidated by changes in the law, we will not be stopped by private lawsuits that seek to silence peaceful people. “Our supporters understand that these are irrelevant when faced with mass starvation, slaughter, the loss of our rights, freedoms and communities.” The Met is running an operation to break up the protests in partnership with the National Police Coordination Centre. Just Stop Oil staged a 32-day shutdown from the end of September and throughout October, which the Met said led to 677 arrests with 111 people charged and required officers to work 9,438 extra shifts. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. According to the group, since its campaign began on April 1, Just Stop Oil supporters have been arrested nearly 2,000 times, with five activists in jail. He added that the government’s refusal to stop oil and gas extraction in the North Sea would contribute to global warming, which would “result in the collapse of organized civil society, the loss of our rights and freedoms and the death of countless millions of people.” Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said the Just Stop Oil protesters had one issue, “in [a] sense”. He told Sky News: “I think there is a major issue when people can go onto motorways or even outside parliament, in fact, periodically, at will, just sit in the middle of the road and stop traffic – sometimes , Indeed, the emergency services are involved in this as well.’ But when told that environmental activists have an issue, he said: “Well, they come in [a] sense. Two points…one is, absolutely, we are all determined, and this government above all is absolutely determined to reduce the use of fossil fuels. “The second point I would like to make is that we really need to strike the right balance between the right of individuals to express their opinion and to protest, which is absolutely fundamental to a civilized democracy – which is what we have in our country – and, another time, making sure we don’t inconvenience the public or indeed put the public at risk in some cases.”
