Police swift crackdown on Just Stop Oil activists M25 disruption

Police stop Just Stop Oil activists on M25 (Image: SWNS)National Highways reported ‘multiple incidents’ on Britain’s busiest motorway during the morning rush hour. But they were resolved earlier than in previous stunts by the eco-zealots. The response came the day after Home Secretary Suella Braverman called on police chiefs to take a tougher line with the protesters who brazenly break the law.Ms Braverman called the disruption a ‘threat to our way of life’.Speaking to a conference of police leaders in London on Wednesday she said the antics of Just Stop Oil were out of control after a PC on a motorbike was hurt in a crash while on a rolling roadblock in Essex.He was recovering yesterday while his colleagues were dealing with the latest protest.Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow of Essex Police said he was ‘proud’ of his force’s ‘extremely quick’ response.He added: ‘Our working at heights team arrived within two minutes to provide support and it took a total of just 31 minutes before all lanes were re-opened completely.’Commenting on the injured officer, Mr Anslow said: ‘I’m pleased to say that he is making afull recovery.’After the crash, Essex Chief Constable BJ Harrington warned that it was ‘only a matter of time’ before someone was killed due to a Just Stop Oil action.At the start of yesterday’s morning rush hour, police swooped on a woman protester as she was about to climb up a gantry and lock herself on near Brentwood, Essex.Another activist managed to get on to a gantry on the Essex stretch of the M25 but was removed quickly.In Surrey, two protesters were arrested after they scaled a gantry near Reigate.Another activist climbed an overhead structure at Enfield, north London, but was later removed by Met Police officers.Yesterday’s stunts appeared to be on a smaller scale but Just Stop Oil had pledged to continue its campaign to cause misery and disruption to thousands of motorists.A poll for GB News showed only 13 percent of British people support Just Stop Oil’s protests.The survey of 1,198 people saw 62 percent say they ‘oppose’ them, with 47 percent of these ‘strongly opposing’ their actions. Overall, more than half the country (52 percent), support harsher punishments.This rises to 82 percent among those who vote Conservative.Only 23 percent are opposed to tougher penalties.Just Stop Oil is aiming to force ministers to change Britain’s oil and gas policy by a concerted campaign of civil disobedience.Supporter Phoebe Plummer, a 21-year-old student from London, said: ‘I understand people must be frustrated with us – and rightly so –but we have to disrupt daily life because we are hurtling towards climate catastrophe. Yet the Government continues to betray me, my generation and people in the global south by issuing new oil licences.’Five people were arrested after a suspicious vehicle was stopped on the M25 in Westerham, Kent, yesterday.Officers on patrol searched the car and seized climbing equipment along with D-locks and banners.Two women, aged 20 and 21, and three men, aged 50, 45, and 18, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit public nuisance.