Phoebe Plummer is no stranger to Just Stop Oil’s relentless campaign of chaos.
At just 22 years old, the prolific protester has been arrested for a string of disturbances.
But the pink-haired eco-activist was raised a far cry from the world of civil disobedience, handcuffs, and prison cells.
Growing up a stone’s throw from the King’s Road in her family’s £4million Chelsea home, Plummer enjoyed a life of privilege some could only dream of.
Privately educated at £45,000 a year St Mary’s School in Ascot, she then moved on to Mander Portman Woodward College in London to study A-Levels in Chemistry, Computer Science and Mathematics.
The top-class education helped her secure straight A* grades and a spot at the University of Manchester to study Computer Science but ended up studying Social Anthropology at SOAS University of London, according to her LinkedIn.
Plummer eventually swapped studying for activism, making her name on the JSO circuit.
The Mail can reveal that the 22-year-old appears to live in a large house in Clapham, south London, owned by the Church of England.
The activist was last registered as living at the property, which is a Vicarage for the local priest.
It was bought by the Diocese of Southwark in 1991 for an unrecorded price, but houses on the leafy street have recently sold for up to £4million.
Last night, the Diocese of Southwark confirmed that parsonages are private homes for priests and their family, so it’s unclear why Plummer was permitted to live there.
In the summer of 2023, she posed alongside her fellow JSO campaigners for an arty feature in the glamorous magazine Dazed.
Staring into the camera with STOP OIL emblazoned across her chest and holding a can of Heinz tomato soup, the 22-year-old wore a silk and cotton sweater by the exclusive Italian brand Loro Piana, where jumpers can cost upwards of £1,000.
Sixteen Just Stop Oil members were arrested late last year after staging a disruptive demonstration outside the Prime Minister’s home in Kensington, West London. Police also moved on a group of protesters who gathered outside Sir Keir Starmer’s family home to sing Christmas carols with a climate change message.
But an undercover Mail on Sunday investigation has discovered those stunts were just an ‘experiment’ for a new wave of intimidating direct action.
Speaking to a reporter posing as a new recruit, one Just Stop Oil activist called Joe explained: ‘What our strategy is, at least in the short-term, is that we’re going to be occupying Labour MPs’ offices, their houses, disrupting their speeches, etc.
‘So that’s kind of what taking action with Just Stop Oil looks like for the short term. We’re not going to be doing what we’ve been doing previously which is marching on the roads. There’s been a change of direction. The target is Labour MPs.’
But he also said they ‘might just be targeting Tories’ too.
Last year Sir Keir enraged activists when he said a Labour Government would not tear up the 100 new drilling licences granted by the Conservatives to explore North Sea oil and gas fields. And this month he slashed Labour’s green investment plans over concerns about their staggering cost.
Joe said: ‘There’s going to be an Election this year. Labour are probably the incoming government. And our demand is that they get rid of the oil and gas licences that the Tories have granted.
‘Activists involved in targeting MPs would be required to first take part in ‘non-violence’ training. We’re committed to non-violent civil disobedience in the footsteps of like Martin Luther King, Gandhi, etc etc.’
In a call with another activist called Alex, the undercover reporter was told: ‘This next phase is a total departure from the last two or three. The idea is to shift the focus back to the political arena, on to Labour’s hypocrisy and the craven evil of the Conservatives.
‘What this is going to mean is probably… bothering politicians, interrupting speeches, interrupting party conferences, and being a bit shouty. Some of this was experimented in the last phase – called ‘wide awake actions’ – so there was carolling outside Rishi Sunak’s house, at one of his residences. This is going to happen across the UK.’
Ms Plummer later sent the undercover reporter a message saying: ‘Thank you for signing up to take action with us’ with a smiley-face emoji. She added: ‘Just wanted to confirm that you’re aware this means signing up to risk arrest?’
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: ‘I give full credit to The Mail on Sunday’s team for this brilliant piece of journalism which has exposed how Just Stop Oil fanatics plan to threaten, intimidate and harass MPs from all parties in the run-up to the Election.
‘There can be no quarter given to this militant mob and I am confident the police will take the necessary action to prevent any more of their mindless disruption.’
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.
