A furious motorist appears to have driven slowly into Just Stop Oil protesters as hundreds marched through central London for the group’s “last day of action”. A mass of people wearing orange vests rallied in the capital on Saturday afternoon (April 26).
Video appears to show a man driving a white minivan towards protesters from the eco-group. People standing in front of the vehicle, some holding a JSO banner, hold their hands up, with one yelling, “Officer, I’m being pushed back”. The minivan appears to edge forwards until the bonnet presses against them. The driver then exits the vehicle and can be heard shouting, “What are you doing blocking the whole road up?”.
He then says to police officers, “What about my right to get home?”, a mass of people gather round. The footage appears to capture the moment officers tell the man the disruption is only temporary and people have a right to protest.
Just Stop Oil (JSO) announced it would end direct action last month and claimed it had won its demand to end new oil and gas projects.
At Saturday’s rally Keir Lane, 59, from Northamptonshire, said: “You learn the ropes, you learn your business, and you have to identify your strengths and your weaknesses and make changes in what you do. This is why JSO are hanging up the hi-vis vest.”
“Effectively what we’re saying is we are stopping one model of operating which is the disruptive action that we’re known for, and that will then morph into other things… What happens with the Just Stop Oil name, again, I don’t think that that’s decided.”
Asked if that action had become a weakness, he said: “No, but you can’t carry on doing the same thing time and time again.”
Eco-zealots from JSO have drawn criticism and jail terms for protests ranging from throwing soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers to spray-painting Charles Darwin’s grave and climbing on gantries over the M25.
In its statement in March announcing the end of direct action, it said: “Just Stop Oil’s initial demand to end new oil and gas is now Government policy, making us one of the most successful civil resistance campaigns in recent history.
“We’ve kept over 4.4 billion barrels of oil in the ground and the courts have ruled new oil and gas licences unlawful.”
