Officers give thumbs up to eco activists who disrupt traffic

After officers were pictured giving the thumbs up gesture to eco-activists who were disrupting traffic, ministers are to step in and force the Plolice to act over the recent Just Stop Oil "go slow" protests.

This month, Just Stop Oil switched from guerrilla style protests on roads, bridges and crossings to start marching slowly down streets to delay, rather than stop, traffic.

Protesters from the group used the "slow march" tactic during rush hour, blocking three lanes of traffic on both sides of the A2 in Southwark, south London, before launching another blockade in Bank, City of London.

Four van loads of Metropolitan Police officers walked behind and alongside the activists in both locations, some officers joking, laughing, filming and doing thumbs-ups with the group. None of the officers intervened to stop the protestors, and they defended their actions when challenged by the public

Following claims by police chiefs that the uncertainty over the legal definition of 'serious disruption' prevented them from intervening with protests for fear of breaching protest laws – which would expose their officers to legal challenge and compensation claims.

Proposals from the Government defining in law the level of disruption when police can intervene and arrest protesters are set to close loopholes that have been exploited by Just Stop Oil and other eco-activists. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 only set out serious disruption as that which prevented an "organisation" from carrying out its activities for "a prolonged period" within the vicinity of a protest.

Ministers are expected to introduce secondary legislation in Parliament setting out a statutory definition of "serious disruption" which could allow police to crack down on the "slow walk" tactics, treating them as the culmination of a series of unlawful protests. This would enable officers to adopt a tougher approach in the new year.

The planned law change follows a meeting between police chiefs and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Home Secretary Suella Braverman, and policing minister Chris Philp - who is drawing up the planned new regulations for forces.

The National Police Chiefs' Council's lead on public order, BJ Harrington, said a statutory definition could help deal with slow-walk tactics like those used by Just Stop Oil, by distinguishing between a protest by a "single person on a single day" - which was not serious disruption - and that which was "the culmination of weeks or months of disruption to communities".

PM Law 

Sheffield Solicitors