Just stop oil protesters throw in the towel by announcing final demonstration

Protest group Just Stop Oil says it’s ‘hanging up the hi vis’. The group’s activities have left 15 protesters languishing in jail following a series of high profile demonstrations since 2021 that some think set back environmental causes by alienating public support.

Announcing an end to campaigning after “one last action”, the group claims to have “kept 4.4 billion barrels of oil in the ground”, apparently taking all the credit for the UK government’s decision to halt further gas and oil developments.

The group says that equates to “over 1.2 million barrels per arrest”, but while Just Stop Oil appears still to be celebrating the disruptive methods that caused grief and consternation for millions of ordinary citizens, its plea for support for an action day in London’s Parliament Square suggests that criminal punishments meted out by the courts to its members have been effective.

“This will be a lower-risk action and we won't be pushing for arrest. We know that arrest can be a barrier to stepping out, and we will be doing our best to minimize that risk so that everyone can join,” the group says. It goes on to claim the event is an opportunity to “come together in our numbers and show that civil resistance is alive and well, that it remains a force for change”.

According to the group itself, during the last three years supporters have been arrested 3,300 times, and faced prison sentences 180 times.

Drivers breathing a sigh of relief to learn there’ll be no more M25 gantry protests, slow marches or indeed attempts to disfigure works of art, may be getting ahead of themselves though. 

“We are creating a new strategy, to face this reality and to carry our responsibilities at this time. Nothing short of a revolution is going to protect us from the coming storms,” a press release states.

Come and join our WhatsApp Channel for the latest car news and reviews...