National raids on Just Stop Oil supporters planning to disrupt summer holidays

Dozens of Just Stop Oil supporters have been arrested on suspicion of plotting to cause disruption at airports this summer.

Scotland Yard said a total of 27 JSO activists have now been rounded up following dawn raids across London, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Devon, Essex, Manchester, Surrey, Sussex, Norfolk and West Yorkshire.

The Met Police said four people arrested on Tuesday after being identified at Gatwick Airport have been released on bail.

Six others were arrested at an east London community centre on Thursday ‘as part of a publicly-advertised event promoting airport disruption’.

‘Among those held were several high-profile members of Just Stop Oil who we believe to be key organisers,’ the force said.

And on Friday, Met officers worked with eight other police forces to arrest 17 suspects at their homes across the country.

Chief Supt Ian Howells, who led the operation, said: ‘We know Just Stop Oil are planning to disrupt airports across the country this summer, which is why we have taken swift and robust action now.

‘Our stance is very clear that anyone who compromises the safety and security of airports in London can expect a strong response from officers or security staff.

‘Airports are complex operating environments which is why we are working closely with them, agencies and other partners on this operation.’

In response to the wave of arrests, a Just Stop Oil spokesman said: ‘It isn’t a massive surprise.

‘I think it speaks volumes when we’ve got a police force cracking down on non-violent Just Stop Oil supporters in this way.

‘The people enacting criminal damage on an unimaginable scale against all of us – oil company executives and the politicians that they’ve bought, basically – when is it that those folks are going to face the full force of the law?’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.