Tunnel vision of mob out to cause chaos
THEY have already disrupted Premier League football and caused chaos on the red carpet with their protests.
But Just Stop Oil activists show little sign of stopping, with an apparently growing band of supporters willing to glue themselves to roads and pavements in a bid to further their cause.
For the past week, demonstrators have been digging under road surfaces in Thurrock, Essex, aiming to disrupt fuel supplies. Eight people were arrested after they blocked a tanker, deflated its tyres and climbed on the vehicle on Sunday evening.
It was a little over six months ago that the campaign group staged its first major protest.
Some 30 supporters swarmed the Baftas ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in central London, banging drums, chanting and setting off smoke bombs as they demanded an end to new fossil fuel projects.
Then protester Louis McKechnie, 21, ran on to the pitch at Goodison Park to disrupt a match between Everton and Newcastle United, fastening himself to a goalpost.
Just Stop Oil was formed at the end of 2021, with veteran environmental activist Roger Hallam, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain, among its leaders.
An organiser said there was no precise count of supporters, but insisted the number was ‘growing week by week’.
Among them is Dr Larch Maxey, 50, an academic who was arrested on suspicion of causing public nuisance after emerging from the tunnel beneath Stoneness Road in Thurrock on Sunday
Dr Maxey said: ‘I was in the tunnel for six days. It was very empowering to be able to do something that made a big difference.’