Just Stop Oil activists throw orange paint over energy firm’s Canary Wharf office in latest stunt – as it’s revealed policing bill for their protests has cost taxpayer £5.5million
At least four Just Stop Oil activists have been arrested after the eco-mob threw orange paint over an office building in Canary Wharf this morning.
More than a dozen eco-zealots were seen sitting crossed legged outside the headquarters of Total Energies after daubing it with their signature fluorescent colour.
Local workers took to Twitter to brand them ‘morons’ as they shared photos of the eco-warriors holding up signs reading ‘Stop EACOP [East African Crude Oil Pipeline], stop genocide’.
It is the latest in a series of protests that have cost the British taxpayer £5.5million in policing costs alone, according to figures released this week.
Thousands of police officer shifts have been dedicated to monitoring their disruptive demonstrations over the past year.
Just Stop Oil activists threw orange paint over an office building in Canary Wharf this morning as part of their latest protest against new oil licences
More than a dozen activists were seen sitting crossed legged outside the headquarters of Total Energies after daubing it with their signature fluorescent paint
In 2022, there were 750 arrests made and at least 116 have been cuffed for taking part in slow-walks on busy roads in recent months.
The Metropolitan Police’s Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist told LBC yesterday that a staggering 16,500 officer shifts had been used to tackle the protesters.
He said: ‘If you want to put a monetary value on it, it’s about £5.5million – that’s about 150 officers a day.
‘What I could do with 150 officers preventing robberies or investigating crime or supporting victims, is really significant.’
The Metropolitan Police said were called to Canary Wharf at just before 8am this morning and that officers remain at the scene.
The force said: ‘Police were called just before 08:00hrs to reports of Just Stop Oil protesters in Upper Bank Street, Canary Wharf…Officers were on scene by 08:03hrs.
‘Four people have been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage after a building was spray painted.
‘There are no reports of any road obstructions at this time, traffic is flowing. Officers remain on scene.’
Just Stop Oil said its action today was ‘in solidarity with @StopEACOPug, a group of Ugandan student climate activists fighting to stop this devastating project.’
A Just Stop Oil protester is escorted from Canary Wharf by police on Tuesday morning
Just Stop Oil said its action today was ‘in solidarity with @StopEACOPug, a group of Ugandan student climate activists fighting to stop this devastating project.’
More than a dozen eco-warriors sit outside Total Energies in Canary Wharf on Tuesday
The group branded the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline a ‘carbon bomb’
The group branded the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline a ‘carbon bomb’ and claimed there had been ‘continued human rights violations’ in its construction.
It wrote on Twitter that it targeted Total Energies because it is the majority shareholder in the project.
It comes after the group yesterday began its tenth week of slow marches and proudly announced that it had caused blockages on key roads across north, south and west London during the rush hour.
However, in what is becoming a disturbingly common occurrence, there were ugly interactions between the group and fed-up commuters.
In Camberwell shortly after 8am, a motorcyclist refused to be held up by the rush-hour slow march, ploughing through their banner and tossing it on the ground as he rode away.
Just Stop Oil were this week slammed as ‘performative’ by one of their original funders.
The Metropolitan Police’s Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist told LBC yesterday that a staggering 16,500 officer shifts had been used to tackle the eco-mob
The group yesterday began its tenth week of slow marches and proudly announced that it had caused blockages on key roads across north, south and west London during the rush hour (Pictured in Canary Wharf on Tuesday)
American entrepreneur Trevor Neilson co-founded the Climate Emergency Fund (CEF), a group that bankrolled Extinction Rebellion and JSO,
Mr Neilson has since resigned his position and described their methods as ‘unproductive’.
The 50-year-old Californian businessman stepped down in 2021 but has since decided to speak out to criticise the groups’ protest tactics, which include ‘slow marches’ and blocking roads.
Major events have also been disrupted by JSO, including the Rugby Cup final at Twickenham and the Epsom Derby, with Wimbledon suspected to be the next sporting event under threat.
‘It’s become disruption for the sake of disruption,’ Neilson told The Times . ‘Working people that are trying to get to their job, get their kid dropped off at school, survive a brutal cost-of-living crisis in the UK, you know, there’s a certain hierarchy of needs that they have.’
Mr Neilson was once an enthusiastic supporter of the controversial tactics employed by the climate groups, but said their activities have caused him increasing unease.
‘If at the same time they have a pink-haired, tattooed and pierced protester standing in front of their car, so that their kid is late for their test that day, that does not encourage them to join the movement,’ he added.
‘It’s just performative. It’s not accomplishing anything. I absolutely believe that it has now become counterproductive, and I just feel like that has to be said by somebody that was involved in the beginnings of what it has become.’
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