Just Stop Oil protesters ‘much less assertive’ without leaders, says Met boss

ITV News Deputy Political Editor Anushka Asthana reports on the prime minister pledging that police will have whatever powers required to crack down on disruptive protests

Just Stop Oil protesters have become “much less assertive” because their suspected leaders are in custody, according to the boss of Britain’s biggest police force.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley suggested efforts by officers are having an effect and said he is “absolutely determined” that anything that goes beyond lawful, reasonable protest will be “dealt with robustly”.

But he also admitted that some trials may not take place for two years amid delays in the criminal justice system.

After a roundtable discussion at Downing Street today, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said Just Stop Oil activists had taken 180 officers away from their daily duties on Wednesday 30 November.

Since 2 October, Mr Twist said more than 12,500 officer shifts, equating to £55 million and 46 days of action have been attributed to managing the activist's campaign.

It comes as the Home Secretary and policing minister are due to meet police chiefs to discuss tackling the “guerrilla tactics” used by protest groups after Downing Street said “more must be done” to stop disruptive demonstrations.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joined the start of the roundtable hosted in No 10 by Suella Braverman and Chris Philp on Thursday.

Sir Mark told the London Assembly: “Frankly, what I’ve seen is that Just Stop Oil have got much less assertive in their recent protests – frankly, as a consequence of a large number of their leaders being remanded in custody as a result of our operations.”

“I’m absolutely determined that anything that goes beyond lawful reasonable protest by creating serious disruption to London, by creating damage to property, will be dealt with robustly,” he added.

“That’s why we’ve used the more serious offences such as the statutory offence of public nuisance – we put the best part of 60 offenders before the courts at one stage for that offence.”

Sir Mark said most of the trials for members of the environmental activist group are scheduled to take place in 2024 due to delays in the criminal justice system.

Downing Street denied Thursday’s meeting was aimed at telling the police more is expected of them to stop disruptive protests, but the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Equally, we want to be clear and feed back the concerns of the public because that is coming across loud and clear.”

He said: “We do want to discuss with police leaders if they require more powers or more guidance about how to further address some of these guerrilla tactics we’ve seen.

“Obviously there has been some new tactics attempted in recent days and we’re very conscious that the public wants us to deal with this.

“And so it’s right that we speak to those in charge of our police forces about how they plan to address (this).”

Asked whether police leaders will be given the message that they must do more, rather than asked if they need more powers, the spokesman told reporters: “I don’t necessarily agree with that.

“I think the police have also talked about wanting to do more in this area.

“Now, there might be a number of solutions to this. Whether that’s – and I’m not going to predict that – but we do want to hear from the police about some of the challenges they’re facing.

“Equally, we want to be clear and feed back the concerns of the public because that is coming across loud and clear.”

While the right to protest will “always be something we protect in this country”, the spokesman said this “should not stray into” disrupting people’s lives, adding: “They’re hindering the work of the emergency services and more must be done to put a stop to them.”

Speaking after the roundtable at Downing Street, Assistant Commissioner Twist, who leads on public order policing, said: "The actions of activists Just Stop Oil continue to take up valuable officer time that could be better used in local communities and dealing with priority crime.

“Whilst this week we have seen low level of activity by them, we still have to ensure we have officers on standby right across London to respond to any spontaneous action they may take, given we have no prior engagement.

"That meant yesterday we had 180 officers taken away from their day to day duties.

“Indeed, since they started their campaign on 2 October, there have been 46 days of action which have taken over 12,500 dedicated officer shifts to police, equating to more than £5.5 million.

“Each day they come out, we have to be ready to respond to what their actions are based on, their behaviour, size of the group and if they have broken any law.

"We know it has been frustrating for Londoners this week seeing them walking slowly in the roads in central London, but as they have been small in number, and keep moving with traffic being able to move around them or easily divert, we are less likely to be able to arrest and prosecute them for unlawful obstruction.

“Everyone has the right to protest but some of their activity is not protest, it has been simple criminality - intent on disrupting London. When we see crime we will deal with it quickly.

"We have arrested 755 people to date, and have so far charged 182 for a range of offences from obstruction of the highway to conspiracy to intentionally or recklessly cause public nuisance.

"We are determined to work with the CPS to charge everyone who has brought misery to the public through their unlawful actions.

“They have made their intent clear, to carry out further protest, and we will continue to act and ensure Londoners can go about their daily business.”

Earlier this week, Just Stop Oil protester Jan Goodey, who caused “mile after mile” of tailbacks on the M25 after climbing up a gantry, was jailed for six months after admitting causing a public nuisance.

The 57-year-old was part of a demonstration on behalf of the climate group which forced authorities to close sections of the UK’s busiest motorway during the morning rush-hour on November 7.

In September, Goodey, from Brighton, East Sussex, had been handed a two-year conditional discharge for obstructing the highway in a separate protest last year.

District Judge Daniel Benjamin said he had “flagrantly ignored” previous warnings that his conduct “was not acceptable in a peaceful and democratic society”.