Just Stop Oil protesters have been arrested after smashing the glass covering a Diego Velázquez painting at the National Gallery in London, as police detained dozens of others who blocked Whitehall.
Two activists targeted the glass on the Rokeby Venus painting with safety hammers before they were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.
The artwork, which was painted by Velázquez in the 1600s, was slashed by the suffragette Mary Richardson in 1914. One of those involved on Monday said: “Women did not get the vote by voting; it is time for deeds not words.”
The Metropolitan police said at least 40 activists who were “slow marching” in Whitehall were also detained and that the road was clear after traffic was stopped for a brief period.
The activists laid down on the road and lined up on pavements along Whitehall. Some were placed on and around the Cenotaph by police, according to protesters and an officer at the scene.
A female protester lying cuffed on the base of the war memorial told PA Media: “They arrested us in the road and we were dragged to the pavement and then back over here.”
One officer said the protesters had been moved to the site “to get them off the road”, adding: “It was for their own safety, obviously it’s quite a busy road.”
Lee Anderson, the deputy chair of the Conservative party, tweeted in response to seeing activists near the Cenotaph: “Simple solution here. Give them stronger glue and leave them there till Sunday.”
The prelude to the arrests on Whitehall was witnessed by the Tory peer David Frost, who tweeted: “The @metpoliceuk are accompanying a Just Stop Oil demo down the street. I hope they plan to take some firmer action soon.”
Just Stop Oil said more than 100 of its supporters had shut down Whitehall to demand no new oil and gas.
The government has revealed plans to mandate annual oil and gas licensing in the North Sea in an attempt to reduce dependency on “hostile foreign regimes”.
