The Just Stop Oil demonstrations, which have caused four days of disruption on the M25 highway encircling London, will be put on hold to allow the government time to rethink awarding new licences for oil and gas exploitation.
The protesters claimed they stopped the action on Remembrance Day to urge Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to “honour all those who served and loved their country” by making sure that there is a “liveable future.”
The Metropolitan police said that the 32 days of unrest orchestrated by Just Stop Oil at the end of September and into October led to 677 arrests, 111 charges, and officers working a total of 9,438 more shifts.
Hertfordshire police faced criticism earlier this week when it was revealed that they had detained several media professionals, including a photographer, a documentary filmmaker, and the LBC radio journalist Charlotte Lynch.
The question “What is the aim of this police?” and photographs of a protester standing atop a gantry over the London orbital road with numerous officers watching appeared on the front page of Friday’s Daily Mail, which added to the pressure on the police.
Outrage has been stirred by the M25 action this week, and not just because commuter travel has been hampered.
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The protest group said on Friday, “From today, Just Stop Oil will halt its campaign of civil resistance on the M25. We are giving time to those in government who are in touch with reality to consider their responsibilities to this country at this time.”
“We ask that the prime minister consider his statement at Cop27, where he spoke of the catastrophic threat posed by the ravages of global heating, the 33 million people displaced by floods in Pakistan, and the moral and economic imperative to honour our pledges. You don’t get to recycle words and promises – you owe it to the British people to act,” they added.
(with inputs from agencies)
