Just Stop costing us! £20million has been spent on policing eco zealots in London so far – with time spent equating to 300 officers taken off frontline duties every day
- The Metropolitan Police said the eco group has so far cost it £19.9 million
Just Stop Oil eco-zealots have so far cost Metropolitan Police £20 million of taxpayers’ money, with time spent policing protests equating to 300 officers taken off frontline duties every day.
The activists’ protests has hit Scotland Yard’s pockets with officers having to carry the eco-clowns off the roads as they ‘refuse to engage’ with the police.
Police have been given beefed up powers to get them off the streets they block as people try to go about their daily lives.
Since last October, 657 Just Stop Oil protesters have been arrested for unlawful protests, of which 338 have been charged. The other 308 are currently on bail.
Some £19.9 million has been spent on the group to date, with £3.5 million spent since October this year, the Met said.
A Just Stop Oil protester is removed by police after blocking the Mall outside King Charles’ Buckingham Palace
The eco-zealots face up to police officers during a march on London’s streets in June as they called on the government to end approval for exploring, developing and producing fossil fuels
Commander Kyle Gordon, who was the senior officer responsible for planning the Met’s policing response to the latest round of Just Stop Oil’s protests, called on the group to engage with the force.
READ MORE: Just Stop Oil protestors spared from road obstruction charges – as police arrested them while the green man was showing
He said: ‘When it comes to Just Stop Oil, we know when they talk about slow marches it is in everything other than name an attempt to block the road and cause maximum disruption to people right across London.
‘Our desire is that Just Stop Oil come forward and speak with us, so we can actually work with them.
‘Twenty million pounds from the public purse is a lot of money. I would much, much prefer to be using that within communities.
‘These officers should be responding to local communities and dealing with local issues instead of being taken away to police Just Stop Oil protests.
‘We absolutely understand and support the fundamental right to protest within a democratic society, but what we’ve got to do is balance that right with the rights of everybody else who is using this city.’
The senior officer said new policing powers granted under Section 7 of the Public Order Act 2023 had allowed the Met to be more proactive in dealing with activists who block roads in the capital.
In November 2022 part of the M25 was closed while officers tried to get a protester off the gantry
Commander Kyle Gordon has called on the eco group to engage with Scotland Yard, with Just Stop Oil costing the force £20 million so far
Metropolitan Police officers remove a Just Stop Oil climate activist after they took part in a slow march to disrupt traffic on Whitehall, in London, on November 6
Police can arrest those who commit an act ‘which interferes with the use or operation of any key national infrastructure in England and Wales’.
Some individuals were arrested multiple times and face multiple charges.
On one occasion, the force used the new powers to make 79 arrests within 20 minutes to clear a protest at Whitehall in central London.
The Met said 10,500 officers’ shifts have been used this autumn, costing at least £3.5 million.
‘The new Public Order Act allows us to actually deal with people who are impacting on key national infrastructure,’ Mr Gordon said.
‘It does allow us to deal much more proactively with people who come on to the roads and cause a blockage.’
Asked if he had any concerns about what tactics the group may employ in future campaigns, the commander said: ‘I’m not anxious about what Just Stop Oil might do.
‘What I do hope they will do is, having seen our resolve to minimise the disruption, reach out and speak to us.’
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