Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Telegraph
The Telegraph
National
Catherine Lough

Just Stop Oil activists try to scale Downing Street gates

A protester is arrested as they try to scale Downing Street - London News Pictures/London News Pictures
A protester is arrested as they try to scale Downing Street - London News Pictures/London News Pictures

Just Stop Oil activists attempted to scale the gates of Downing Street on Tuesday morning.

At 11.20am a group of protesters tried to storm the entrance, while another group sat in the road to block Whitehall, with some gluing themselves to the tarmac. 

In total, 22 people were involved in the disruption.

On Tuesday afternoon, the group marched on Trafalgar Square and played "Ring Around Rosie" with the Met Police.

A spokesman for the group said: “Rishi Sunak is about to U-turn on attending Cop27. We demand that he also U-turn on new oil and gas. This genocidal policy will kill millions of people while failing to address the worst cost of living crisis this country has ever seen."

Police arrest activists at the scene outside Downing Street
Police arrest activists at the scene outside Downing Street
Police arrest activists at the scene outside Downing Street
Police arrest activists at the scene outside Downing Street
Police arrest activists at the scene outside Downing Street
Police arrest activists at the scene outside Downing Street

The spokesman added that it was time for a "serious windfall tax on big oil".

“Vulnerable people will be freezing to death in their homes this winter, unable to afford a can of soup,  while his government refuses to tax the rich and the big energy companies that are profiting from our misery," they said.

“We owe it to our young people to stop fossil fuels, we owe it to our workers to create a just transition to a zero carbon economy, we owe it to our old people to enable them to live with dignity. We are not prepared to stand by and watch while everything we love is destroyed."

Armed police respond
Armed police respond
Activists are tackled
Activists are tackled
Activists from Just Stop Oil are detained by police as they sit in the road near the gates of Downing Street in central London
Activists from Just Stop Oil are detained by police as they sit in the road near the gates of Downing Street in central London

The action follows a number of protests by the climate activists. On Monday, they sprayed orange paint on the MI5 building, the Home Office and the Bank of England. 

Protesters also targeted the News Corp headquarters in London Bridge during the action on Monday morning, amid demands for the Government to halt all new oil and gas licences and consents. 

The Met Police issued a statement through social media saying they are "aware of protesters in Whitehall/Downing Street and are on the scene and dealing".

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.