Commander Kyle Gordon, who was responsible for planning the Met’s policing response to the latest round of Just Stop Oil’s protests, has said the activists do not have the right to “indiscriminately and unavoidably disrupt Londoners”.
The Metropolitan Police has called on the Just Stop Oil group to engage with them as the force revealed that policing the eco activists has cost nearly £20m.
Commander Kyle Gordon, who was the senior officer responsible for planning the Met’s policing response to the latest round of Just Stop Oil’s protests, has told Sky News the force asked the group to engage with them during their protests in the autumn but said the activists chose not to do so.
It comes as Scotland Yard said time spent on the group equated to about 300 officers per day being taken out of frontline policing across London.
Some £19.9 million has been spent on the group to date, with £3.5 million spent since October this year, the Met said.
The force added that 10,500 officers’ shifts have been used this autumn.
Commander Gordon said the group’s activists brought London to a “standstill” with their campaign in the spring, and added: “Their stated intention in the run up to the autumn was that they were going to try and bring London to a standstill again… So we had to police the protest and we asked Just Stop Oil to engage with us and they did not engage with us.”
The senior officer said new policing powers granted under Section 7 of the Public Order Act 2023 had allowed the Met to be more proactive in dealing with activists who block roads in the capital.
Police can arrest those who commit an act “which interferes with the use or operation of any key national infrastructure in England and Wales”.
Since the powers were first used in October, 657 Just Stop Oil activists have been arrested, the highest number of arrests ever made in response to mass unlawful disruption, Scotland Yard said.
Of those arrested over the last five weeks, 338 have been charged, with a further 308 released on bail.
Police attend JSO protest near PM’s house
Some individuals were arrested multiple times and face multiple charges.
On one occasion, the force used the new powers to make 79 arrests within 20 minutes to clear a protest at Whitehall in central London.
The number of arrests in recent weeks has led the campaign group Liberty to voice concerns – arguing people have the right to make their voices heard about issues that matter to them.
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Commander Gordon said: “The Metropolitan Police Service recognises the presumption in favour of peaceful protest… What they don’t have a right to do is indiscriminately and unavoidably disrupt Londoners to the extent it’s been seen previously.”
Asked what the next steps forward in the relationship between the Met and Just Stop Oil, Commander Gordon added: “Well, I’m hoping the next step forward is that Just Stop Oil come forward and actually engage with us… And in fact, in the last week or two, they did start to engage with us and we did agree with them some parameters about how they could protest. Unfortunately, whenever that activity actually took place on the ground, they were back blocking roads.
“They went back to leaving us with no option other than to arrest them.”
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
