Just Stop Oil protests rack up huge bill - and it's Britons being forced to pay
Almost 24,000 officers were dispatched to deal with the activists
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Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion protests have cost a staggering £9million - and taxpayers are being forced to pay the bill.
The protest group’s antics between April and June this year left the Met Police, financed by the public purse, picking up the hefty cost.
Nearly 24,000 officers were dispatched, and £16,266 of taxpayers’ money was used to pay for their accommodation at hotels.
On top of this, officers were paid over £1.2million in overtime, for the extra shifts spent dealing with the protest groups.
Police detain a Just Stop Oil activist during a slow walk protest in Vauxhall, central London
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Extinction Rebellion’s four-day protest in April cost the Met £917,000 to monitor and police.
The event, dubbed ‘The Big One’, saw demonstrators gather in Parliament Square to stage the “biggest climate change protest ever held in the UK”.
Extinction Rebellion was joined by protesters from other groups, including from Just Stop Oil.
Almost 900 officers were called to police the protest.
The Met police currently stands at just below 37,000 officers.
Police data also reveals that between April and June, the Met made 271 arrests and charged 174 Just Stop Oil protestors.
Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist spoke about the issues the force has had with the environmental groups in July.
“One of the challenges we have with Just Stop Oil is they don’t tell us where they’re going to protest, they don’t tell us when they’re going to take action,” he said.
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The Met has expressed frustration with the groups as they do not provide any details of the protests
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“They don’t engage, which means we have to put more officers on it than we otherwise would do.”
Speaking to LBC Radio, Twist said he supports the right to protest but said “this isn’t a protest, this is crime. And there’s a difference”.
“So the right to protest is very strongly protected,” he said.
“But when you get into deliberately causing serious disruption to the public of London, stopping people from going about their daily business, disrupting people from going to work or hospital or taking their children to school then that tips over into crime.”