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Just Stop Oil activists appeared to block an ambulance on Thursday as they took part in a ‘slow march’ in London in protest of the UK’s continued dependence on fossil fuels.
In video footage seen by MailOnline, activists walked slowly down Oxford Street in front of a long snake of barely moving traffic when the ambulance got stuck behind them.
As police in Germany this week dragged eco-fanatics who had glued their hands to Berlin’s roads off the motorways, Metropolitan Police officers appeared to take no immediate action as XR offshoot protesters attempted to bring the capital to a standstill.
Elsewhere, activists from Just Stop Oil blocked a Ferrari driver on the world-famous Strand around 8.30am this morning. Shortly before 9:00 a.m., police issued a dispersal order to quell another stunt at Waterloo Bridge.
Scotland Yard has come under fire for their approach to police, sometimes threatening members of the public by asking for eco-enthusiasts to be arrested when they were apparently standing by.
In contrast, German police practiced around protesters who glued their hands to a road in Berlin before arresting them.
Just Stop Oil activists were walking down Oxford Street in central London when the ambulance became stuck
BERLIN: A specialist agent drills around a man’s hand to get him off the road
The ambulance drove down Oxford Street on Thursday morning before reaching the long traffic jam behind the Just Stop Oil activists.
But he got stuck because a number of trucks and vans blocked the one-way road in front of him. The ambulance did not appear to have activated its lights or sirens, but video shows the protesters continuing their march despite the vehicle only moving a few cars behind them.
The call for British police to force activists off the road more quickly comes after Home Secretary Suella Braverman criticized officers in some of their responses to ‘militant’ activists.
She said yesterday: “There is a perception that the police sometimes support the militant demonstrators, as I said, by giving them cups of tea or dancing with them. I think from a public trust point of view, all of that is detrimental. They should be taken seriously.
“They have to respond effectively and quickly to the crimes that people undergo: anti-social behaviour, car theft, rape and serious sexual violence, burglary. Those are the priorities that the British people want the police to deliver.”
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police told MailOnline that no arrests had been made in connection with the protest on Thursday.
In a tweet, a spokesman for Just Stop Oil said: “Only 15 ordinary people, supported by trained march escorts, are standing in opposition to this criminal government and their attempt to license 100 new fossil fuel projects. Other teams are preparing to participate.’
They later added that a second team had also taken the eastbound carriageway on the Strand, causing a halt all the way.
The emergency vehicle became stuck as the road turned into a one-way street
Protesters did not move in front of the emergency vehicle, despite it being only a matter of a few car lengths away
LONDON: Protesters blocked the Strand this morning
BERLIN: A climate activist is removed from a road in the German capital
Just Stop Oil posted a series of tweets revealing where they would be protesting today
The group posted a photo of activists standing in front of a black Ferrari and said: ‘Driver of £300,000 Ferrari realizes they should have taken the tube and saved £299,996.’
A third team of Just Stop Oil members also joined the group’s slow marching. This team, led by Phoebe Plummer, chanted ‘no more oil’, ‘no more gas’ and ‘isolate Britain’, video footage showed.
Ms Plummer was previously involved in high-profile actions for Just Stop Oil, most famously being arrested after throwing a can of Heinz tomato soup over a £76 million Vincent van Gogh painting at the National Gallery.
The demonstrators held signs and wore safety jackets while standing in the middle of the asphalt.
In a statement posted on social media, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: ‘Around 8am Just Stop Oil #protesters began marching slowly on the roads on #TheStrand, #TrafalgarSquare and #BoroughHighStreet.
“Police are quickly on the scene and are talking to demonstrators to minimize disruption to Londoners.”
The Met Police later confirmed that they told activists to pull off the road at Waterloo Bridge, and all activists complied.
A spokesperson said that at around 8:45 am “conditions” had been issued to protesters, asking them to leave the road because their slow walk was causing “serious and deliberate disruption to those going about their daily business.”
The demonstrators obeyed and left the road.
LONDON: Just Stop Oil protesters march through central London on Thursday
LONDON: Police officers stand by and watch Just Stop Oil activists on The Strand
LONDON: Activists hold signs reading ‘End climate injustice’
Police issued a Section 12 Public Order Act warning to the protesters
Police issued a Section 12 Public Order Act warning to the protesters. It read: ‘This JSO (Just Stop Oil) protest must use the pavement for protest in the London Boroughs of Westminster, Lambeth and Southwark until Thursday 27 April 2023 at 23:59.’
Yesterday, police appeared to be stepping up action against the eco-fanatics blocking traffic following a warning from a Met boss that unclear laws were hampering efforts to keep the roads open.
Just Stop Oil (JSO) activists were threatened with arrest on Wednesday after circumstances allowed officers to interrupt the third day of the group’s slow marches in London.
Earlier in the week, officers were forced to stand by and even shield the activists from irate commuters.
Protesters should be deemed to be causing ‘serious disruption’ for officers to intervene – but police chiefs are not given a definition of what this actually means.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, who leads the Met’s response to the protests, revealed that Just Stop Oil failed to cross this threshold earlier this week because activists were only “about 15 minutes” away.
London Traffic at a Halt as Oil Enthusiasts Block Ambulance with Road Stunts