Protestors from Just Stop Oil alongside traffic in Holborn
(Picture: Just Stop Oil / Twitter)Sixteen Just Stop Oil protestors have been arrested after blocking the road outside Holborn Underground station in a stand against government policies.
In the latest demonstration in a month of action, supporters blocked the junction of High Holborn and Kingsway, by sitting down and demanding an end to new oil and gas.
The 22 activists sat down at 10.50am on Friday , with five of the group glueing themselves onto tarmac. Others chanted and held banners.
The Metropolitan Police responded within minutes to unglue the protestors stuck to the floor and said the 16 were arrested on suspicion of willful obstruction.
🚨 BREAKING: 20 BLOCK KEY HOLBORN JUNCTION 🚨
— Just Stop Oil ⚖️💀🛢 (@JustStop_Oil) October 21, 2022
🚧 At 10:50am today, around 20 Just Stop Oil supporters walked into the road and stopped traffic at the junction of High Holborn and Kingsway, demanding an end to new oil and gas.#FreeLouis #FreeJosh #CivilResistance #A22Network pic.twitter.com/VlwzoOZxvo
The police said the scene was cleared within an hour of the sit down and that all 16 arrested were taken to a central London police station. They added that specialist officers were deployed to assist with the unglueing process.
Just Stop Oil are 21 days into their month of action. The group has pledged to occupy Westminster every day throughout October.
Among the protestors in Holborn was Patrick Walker, a 33-year-old council worker from Newport in Wales. He said: “Up until very recently, I really thought the Government would eventually take action to save us from the worst of the climate crisis.
"Then the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) warned us last year that we had to stop new fossil fuel extraction if we wanted a liveable future, only for governments to completely ignore them. I realised then the government wouldn’t listen and I had to take action if I wanted a future for my family. I have no choice but to resist.”
Already this week, Just Stop Oil activists have sprayed Harrods with orange paint and blocked the A4 near Barons Court Tube. In the aftermath, Transport for London won a court order to restrict the ability of protesters causing chaos by getting greater powers to act.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “As far as Just Stop Oil and other protesters are concerned, I accept that there is a climate emergency and I accept we have got to take action, and I accept protest is a cornerstone of our democracy.
“But it’s got to be done in a peaceful, lawful and safe way. It’s not benefiting our wish to change public opinion if you are stopping buses or stopping public transport or causing criminal damage to pieces of art – or on a new Elizabeth line.”
A new public order bill has also passed through the House of Commons which would introduce stiff measures to stop “criminal, disruptive and self-defeating guerrilla tactics” of groups.
Just Stop Oil have said they will not be intimidated by the new measures. A spokesman added on Friday: “Ordinary people are taking direct action against the government — the person blocking your route to work could be your neighbour, your local council worker, or the man who served you at Tesco. Think about what makes normal people choose to take such drastic action, and then join them.”
