Clashes Take Place with Just Stop Oil Protestors on the Westway
Activists blocked woman claiming child needed medical attention
Woman tells protestors she is taking her baby to hospital. Picture: Facebook
Clashes between members of the public and Just Stop Oil protestors have taken place on the Westway.
A group of the climate activists started a slow march along the A40 near Savoy Circus on Friday (21 July).
A woman, who was a passenger in one of the cars, got out and told the group blocking the road that she had a baby in the car who was being taken to hospital. A newborn child could be seen in inside the car.
She demanded that the protestors let her through. One of the group who she spoke to relayed a message to a man at the head of the demonstration but a video taken shows him shaking his head and the protestors turn their backs on the woman.
Other motorists stuck behind the demonstration urged the activists to relent and let the woman through. A delivery driver called out to them, “What sort of people are you?”.
Another told them that they were just causing more pollution.
The slow march protest ended when the police served an order on the group but at the side of the road a group of local people remonstrated with them including a woman wheeling a pushchair who said they weren’t welcome in the area and asked them what sort of jobs they had that enabled them to take time off to cause this disruption.
Woman remonstrates with protestors blocking the traffic in her area. Picture: Facebook
The protest was part of a week of action by the Just Stop Oil group across London. The group says that 160 people demonstrated in various locations across the capital on Friday.
Met Police Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said, “If you are walking on the A40 Westway, it is clearly causing serious disruption. The right to protest is fundamental, but the right to disrupt others isn't."
He added, "Where it is clear a small number of people are disrupting a large number of people, it is clear where the balance should be, and we would impose conditions and clear the road."
During an interview with Nick Ferrari on LBC he revealed that a total of 23,597 officer shifts had been dedicated to policing the 515 JSO marches across London at a cost of £7,729,086. Officers have made 271 arrests and issued 420 section 12 orders to clear the roads as quickly as possible during the three-months of action .
Since the Just Stop Oil campaign launched this February, there have been over 2,350 arrests and 138 people have spent time in prison with three currently inside. The group is demanding an end to the extraction of new sources of fossil fuels.
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July 25, 2023