‘UNACCEPTABLE’: Outrage over Just Stop Oil plot to derail Britons’ summer holidays
Environmental protest group Just Stop Oil has been slammed as “selfish” and “shooting itself in the foot” after details of the activists’ plot to spark travel chaos this summer emerged.
Back in March, the group had schemed to cause “disruption on a scale that has never been seen before” by demonstrating at airports in the UK and across Europe from the middle of June.
Protesters, in conjunction with Europe-based campaign group A22 Network, are set to call off flights by gluing themselves to runways, storming airport terminals and even climbing on planes in tourist spots including Spain, Greece and Turkey – which would see prospective holidaymakers’ summer travels plagued by delays at home and abroad.
At a Just Stop Oil meeting in Birmingham, an undercover journalist from the Mirror had witnessed a leading figure from the group, Phoebe Plummer, claiming: “The most exciting part of this plan is that [it’s] going to be part of an international effort.
“Flights operate on such a tight schedule to control air traffic that with action being caused in cities all around the world we’re talking about radical, unignorable disruption.”
The privately-educated Plummer, known for throwing soup over one of Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers paintings at the National Gallery, continued: “It’s time to wake up and get real: no summer holiday is more important than food security, housing and the lives of your loved ones.
“Flying is also a symbol of the gross wealth inequality that’s plaguing our society and if we want to create change we need to adopt a more radical demand.”
MPs slammed the plans, with Home Secretary James Cleverly vowing to clamp down on tackling “criminals posing as protesters”.
He added: “Selfish, disruptive protesters who wreak havoc in people’s everyday lives must be stopped.”
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Tory MP Gary Johnson told the Mirror: “The actions of Just Stop Oil are counterproductive and put people off their cause.
“Most people want to see the environment protected, but militant, highly disruptive protests just anger those who are often just trying to enjoy a family holiday.”
But a JSO spokesman defended the plans, saying: “In normal circumstances, the sort of activities you’ve outlined would be unacceptable.
“However, what is more unacceptable is the last 10 straight months of record-breaking temperatures, governments continue to allow more oil and gas drilling. The situation is an emergency and we have to start acting like it.”
When Sean Irish, another Just Stop Oil eco-activist, spoke to Bev Turner on GB News last month, he claimed jeopardising holidays via the plans were justified, and claimed there would be “no need” for the group to take direct action if the government stopped new oil licences.
But the GB News presenter slammed the proposals, asking: “What gives you the right to spoil people’s holidays when they work hard all year?
“They make money to go away once a year and enjoy a week of sun and then you lot are going to be sat there stopping their plane taking off.”
Irish said later: “People are going to take action just like they have in the past. If you do not like annoying protesters, make your government do something that doesn’t need to be protested.”