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A Just Stop Oil ringleader who is on bail after throwing a can of soup at a Van Gogh painting was among the eco-zealots causing travel chaos on the M25 today, it has emerged.
Phoebe Plummer, 21, said she understood that people are ‘frustrated’ as she helped cause miles-long tailbacks on Britain’s busiest motorway this morning.
The student, from Lambeth, London, was on site to support her fellow eco-zealots as they climbed gantries for the fourth day in a row, causing humiliation for police a day after Home Secretary Suella Braverman told them to ‘stop humouring’ the ‘extremists’.
The Just Stop Oil campaigners – who want to ban new gas and oil extraction licences – have repeatedly targeted the dangerous spots on the circular stretch since Monday, with hair-raising images today showing one protester unfurling a sign atop a gantry while traffic zooms past below.
This morning proved no exception with the Met Police announcing they were dealing with a person on a gantry near junction 25 at Waltham Cross, close to the border with Hertfordshire. The force said a person has since been arrested and the road was due to re-open shortly.
Meanwhile Surrey Police said officers were dealing with activists who climbed gantries between Junctions 7 and 8 of the UK’s busiest motorway. Two were arrested and the stretch has reopened.
National Highways said there were ‘multiple police-led incidents’ on the M25 this morning, but they have all now ended, while one lane between junctions 28 and 29 for the A127 had also reopened after being closed.
Junction 16 (M40) and junction 15 (M4) of the M25 was also blocked anticlockwise but is now fully operational.
Elsewhere, Kent Police arrested five suspected protesters after pulling them over near the M25 in Westerham, while Essex Police said it cuffed a woman who was trying to scale a gantry around 1.5 miles from Junction 28 clockwise.
Ms Plummer said: ‘I understand people must be frustrated with us, and rightly so, but we have to disrupt daily life because we are hurtling towards climate catastrophe, yet the Government continues to betray me, my generation and people in the global South by issuing new oil licences.’
An activist puts up a banner reading ‘Just Stop Oil’ atop an electronic traffic sign along M25 this morning, unstopped by police
Plummer and Holland went viral when they threw Heinz tomato soup on Vincent Van Gogh’s £76 million masterpiece at the National Gallery last month
Just Stop Oil supporter Tom Gardener climbed onto a motorway gantry on the M25 for the fourth day in a row as part of their campaign to demand that the government halts all new oil and gas licences and consents
Hair raising moment a Just Stop Oil protester attaches himself to a gantry on the M25 while a truck and cars zoom underneath him
Eco-zealots have begun another series of protests causing chaos on the M25 motorway – in disruptive gantry stunts that must be starting to feel like Groundhog Day for police unable to stop them. (Pictured: The junctions targeted so far this week)
The eco-warrior went viral on October 14 when she and Anna Holland, 20, from Newcastle, threw an ‘orange substance’ over Van Gogh’s £76million Sunflowers painting at the National Gallery in central London.
Appearing in the dock together the following day, Holland and Plummer entered pleas of not guilty to criminal damage to the value of less than £5,000. Prosecutor Ola Oyedepo said the pair threw the ‘orange substance’ knowing there was a ‘protective case’ over the actual painting, though damage was caused to the frame.
They were placed on bail on the condition they do not enter galleries or museums and do not have paint or adhesive substances in a public place, while a trial date was set for December 13 at City of London Magistrates’ Court.
Plummer has become a leading Just Stop Oil figure following the stunt last month, regularly appearing on television to defend her actions.
But her group’s disruption to the M25 this week has sparked fury among members of the public, after people missed flights and doctor’s appointments.
Following the fourth consecutive day of action, the Metropolitan Police said today: ‘We’re ready to respond to any criminality on the M25 again today and will work quickly to minimise disruption and keep traffic moving.’
Just Stop Oil, an environmental activist group, has staged a series of protests across London, with police unable to stop them
Police officers escort an activist from ‘Just Stop Oil to a police van following a demonstration on an overhead gantry
A Just Stop Oil eco-zealot is placed inside the back of a police van after climbing a gantry on the M25 on Thursday morning
Traffic builds up northbound on the M25 near West Hornden in Essex as police detain an activist from Just Stop Oil two miles further up the motorway
Police officers attempt to stop an activist as they put up a banner reading ‘Just Stop Oil’ atop an electronic traffic sign along M25 on Thursday
Traffic is forced to come to a standstill as a Just Stop Oil protester climbs a gantry on the M25 on Thursday morning, causing yet another day of travel misery for commuters
Fed up motorists leave their vehicles while some film on their phones as they wait for a Just Stop Oil protester to be removed from a gantry on the M25 on Thursday morning
The chaos prompted parts of the M25 to be shut as police attempted to deal with the problem
A digital sign reads ‘M25 closed J16 to J15’ on Thursday morning, with a Just Stop Oil protester seen inches away to the right after scaling the gantry
An eco-zealot attaches a Just Stop Oil sign to a gantry on the M25, as a digital sign above him warns of a 45 minute delay between J21 and J18
An environmental protestor from the Just Stop Oil group stands on an overhead gantry of the M25 arterial motorway during morning rush hour on November 10, 2022
The force said: ‘One lane was closed for a short time as officers responded to the situation.’
The repeated disruption is particularly embarrassing for police, coming the day after they were told to ‘stop humouring’ eco activists by Suella Braverman.
The Home Secretary accused officers of letting protests get out of control because of their ‘reluctance’ to tackle ‘criminal disruption’.
Her demand came after Just Stop Oil activists brought chaos to the M25, leading to a crash in which a constable was injured.
She suggested that members of the public were taking the law into their own hands because they had lost faith in the police.
But her remarks drew a sharp response from Scotland Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley, who said: ‘We can’t take snipers to people who are climbing the gantries.’
Three further people have been charged following yesterday’s action, Essex Police said.
Daniel Johnson, 24, of Blairgowrie, Perth And Kinross, Paul Bell, 20, of St Germans Road, Exeter, and Theresa Higginson, 24, of Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, have all been charged with causing a public nuisance and have been remanded in custody.
They will appear at Basildon Magistrates Court via video link later on Thursday.
Meanwhile, supporters of Animal Rebellion were among those taking action to support Just Stop Oil’s demands on Thursday.
Tom Gardener, a systems engineer from Nottingham and supporter of Animal Rebellion, was among those disrupting the M25 this morning.
He said: ‘We continue to see absolute neglect and lack of leadership from those who hold power in this country.
‘Rishi Sunak, Suella Braverman, and the rest of the Government, people across this country are calling on you to do what is right and halt all new oil and gas licenses and invest in renewables and a plant-based future.
‘Animal Rebellion is acting in solidarity with Just Stop Oil once more because we cannot afford to let destructive and outdated industries lead us to ruin when there are cheaper, plentiful and sustainable alternatives’
There was also a report on social media of a protest between Junctions 15 and 16, near Heathrow Airport.
Just Stop Oil said its supporters climbed gantries ‘in multiple locations’ from 6.30am on Thursday.
Phoebie Plummer, a 21-year-old student from London, said: ‘I understand people must be frustrated with us, and rightly so, but we have to disrupt daily life because we are hurtling towards climate catastrophe, yet the Government continues to betray me, my generation and people in the global South by issuing new oil licences.’
A police officer was injured during Wednesday’s protests.
Essex Police said there was a collision involving the 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.
This protester – whose identity is currently unknown – posted a video from one of the gantries
Just Stop Oil supporter have have climbed onto motorway gantries around the M25 for the fourth day in a row as part of their campaign to demand that the government halts all new oil and gas licences and consents
Police officers escort an activist from the ‘Just Stop Oil’ environmental activist group to a police van following a demonstration on an overhead gantry
The repeated disruption by eco-zealots on the M25 this week comes despite High Court injunctions against such action (Pictured: Just Stop Oil member arrested on M25 on Thursday morning)
It comes as two students from Scotland and a social worker from Suffolk have appeared in court charged with causing mayhem on the M25 this week.
Charlotte Kirin, 53, Cara O’Callaghan, 19, and Toby Robard, 21, are said to be members of Just Stop Oil who have brought chaos to Britain’s busiest motorway all week.
Social worker Kirin appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court late on Wednesday charged with conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.
O’Callaghan, a cyber-security student from Edinburgh, and Robard, also studying in the Scottish capital, are charged with causing a public nuisance.
Prosecutor Sudara Weerasena said O’Callaghan was arrested at 9am on Wednesday after climbing up a gantry between junction 8 and 9 of the M25 to unfurl a Just Stop Oil banner.
‘When asked to come down she did not respond. She was arrested and assisted down from gantry itself.’
Robard was arrested after unfurling a similar banner on a gantry between Junction 14 and 15.
Kirin, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, was brought down from a gantry at junction 31 of the M25 and arrested on Tuesday.
She is said to have posted a video from on top of one of the gantries on Just Stop Oil’s Twitter account.
Ms Weerasena told the court: ‘This is not an insignificant case, it has taken some detailed planning.’
She said 11 out of 22 protestors have been remanded in custody with linked offences. O’Callaghan and Robard both indicated not guilty pleas.
O’Callaghan, of Edinburgh, was bailed on condition she does not enter England, ahead of a plea and trial preparation hearing at Southwark crown court on December 7.
Robard was granted conditional bail on condition he does not come within one mile of the M25. Kirin was remanded in custody last night but will appear in court again today.
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