Taylor Swift, King Charles and Stonehenge: How Just Stop Oil tactics have escalated
Just Stop Oil handed Boris Johnson an ultimatum a month before protests began in 2022
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Just Stop Oil drew widespread criticism this week with protests at Stonehenge and Stansted Airport – with the apparent targetting of the world’s biggest pop star illustrating quite how the actions have escalated.
Just over two years ago activists handed in a letter at Downing Street, demanding Boris Johnson cut ties with oil companies.
On Wednesday, protesters allegedly cut through airport security fences to access an airfield at which they believed Taylor Swift’s private jet was parked.
So far, Just Stop Oil has been accused of being “terrorists”, called “pathetic” by Sir Keir Starmer, angered Druids and even been accused of being a “false-flag” group in cahoots with the very oil companies it is taking on, such is the unpopularity of its tactics.
While the last 48 months have been punctuated by regular actions, stopping traffic in the street, here The Independent looks at how Just Stop Oil’s highest-profile stunts have developed.
Boris Johnson’s Valentine’s Day Ultimatum
Just Stop Oil’s first press photograph showed two members delivering an ultimatum letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Valentine’s Day in 2022.
Louis McKechnie, then 21, who later received a six-week prison sentence for locking his neck to the post during a Premier League match between Everton and Newcastle, made a brief speech to assembled reporters.
He said: “We know what needs to be done, it’s simple: Just Stop Oil. Right now. They are doing the opposite.
“Last year our prime minister told young people that our future is being stolen before our eyes, and that we have every right to be angry with those who aren’t doing enough to stop it. He also said that his government wants to move beyond hydrocarbons completely and do it as fast as possible.
Hannah Hunt, 23, from Brighton, read out the letter, saying: “Just Stop Oil is demanding that the UK government makes a statement that it will immediately halt all future licensing and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK.”
She warned: “If you do not provide such assurance by 14 March 2022 it will be our duty to intervene – to prevent the ultimate crime against our country, humanity and life on earth.”
Captain Tom statue is covered in human waste
In October 2022 things had ramped up quickly.
Stomach-churning footage appeared to show one climate activist pouring human faeces over a memorial in Derbyshire for Captain Tom Moore, who became a national hero during Covid for fundraising for the NHS by walking lengths of his garden, aged 99.
Madeleine Budd, 21, received a 21-week sentence, suspended for 18 months.
The activist claimed that every time a private jet takes off in the UK, “it pours a bucket of s*** and blood onto everything that Captain Tom stood for”.
M25 carnage and slow walk protests see hundreds arrested
Activists staged 32 days of disruption on the roads across London and the M25 from the end of September and throughout October 2022, which the Metropolitan police said resulted in 677 arrests.
Essex Police said there was a collision on the M25 involving a police motorcyclist and two lorries during a rolling roadblock.
Chief Constable BJ Harrington warned it is “only a matter of time” before someone is killed during a Just Stop Oil protest.
Dartford Crossing chaos
The October 2022 protests included a disruptive action on the Dartford Crossing.
Morgan Trowland, 40, and Marcus Decker, 34, were handed nearly three years in jail each after using ropes and other climbing gear to scale the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, bringing traffic to a standstill.
The pair brought hammocks to sleep in overnight as they dangled 200ft above the jammed road. The road was shut for about 40 hours, and the men eventually came down via a cherry picker.
Essex Police said those affected by the disruption included a “heavily pregnant woman who needed urgent medical help”.
An appeal was refused and the Court of Appeal was told the pair were given the “longest” jail term for a peaceful protest case in modern times.
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers blotted out
Turning their hands to culture and the arts, activists threw tomato soup over Vincent Van Gogh’s masterpiece “Sunflowers” at the National Gallery on 22 October 2022.
Tins of Heinz were at the painting, which is worth an estimated £72.5million, before activists glued their hands to the wall.
Fortunately, the oil painting, valued at $81m ( £72.5m), is protected by a glass cover and was unharmed, a National Gallery spokesperson told The Independent. Just Stop Oil said activists were aware of the case.
King Charles statue gets sponged
Just Stop Oil protesters were arrested after vegan cake was thrown over King Charles III’s waxwork statue at Madame Tussauds on October 24 2022.
Eilidh McFadden, 20, and Tom Johnson, 29, were convicted of criminal damage and ordered to pay £1,750 in compensation each to Tussaud’s owner Merlin Entertainment.
Just Stop Oil protesters storm Les Miserables
In October last year, protesters stormed the stage during a performance of Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre in London’s West End.
In scenes they would argue are reminiscent of those on stage, protesters jumped up during a performance of the show’s iconic song “One More Day” to boos from the outraged audience. Four locked themselves to the stage.
Five protesters were found guilty of aggravated trespass, with two also guilty of criminal damage. All were sentenced to community work.
Stonehenge and jet covered in orange
On Wednesday, Stonehenge was targetted in an alleged protest in which orange power was sprayed, and on Thursday it was an airfield at Stansted Airport, with activists allegedly believing Taylor Swift’s private jet was parked up.
Two people were arrested in connection with each incident.
The incidents managed to draw the ire of not only Rishi Sunak and Sire Keir Starmer, but also witches and druids set to mark the summer solstice at Stonehenge.