Just Stop Oil targeting Coronation procession or London Marathon would ‘backfire,’ warns No10

Police remove a Just Stop Oil protester during a protest (Jonathan Brady/PA)
PA Wire
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Just Stop Oil targeting the coronation procession would backfire as it would cause public outrage, No10 said on Thursday.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Any of these threats, whether it’s this or sporting events, are clearly unacceptable.

“They would not in any way be supported by the public and so of course would be counter-productive.”

It comes after a spokesperson for the protest group refused to rule out targeting King Charles’ coronation during a series of media interviews on Thursday morning.

On Good Morning Britain, presenter Adil Ray asked protester James Skeet, a sound engineer from Manchester: “The King’s coronation is coming up, is that off limits? Would you do something disruptive there, will you throw something at the Queen’s, at the King’s carriage?”

Mr Skeet said: “Just Stop Oil will do whatever is non-violently necessary. We’ll do whatever is non-violently necessary to save us.”

The Just Stop Oil stunt at the Wolrd Snooker Championships
PA

The eco-protesters are known for disruptive protests and this week invaded the World Snooker Championships in Sheffield and doused a table at the Crucible with yellow powder.

They have refused to rule out targeting the London Marathon this weekend and have said they expect many of their supporters to be in the capital for a four-day protest run by separate climate activists group Extinction Rebellion.

Extinction Rebellion have given assurances to the marathon the race will not be targeted by its ‘The Big One’ protest in Parliament Square which 30,000 supported are expected to attend. Just Stop Oil have not given the same assurances.

Just Stop Oil have caused huge disruption in the past with supporters climbing motorway gantries on the M25 and the QEII Bridge in Dartford, Kent, as well as blocking main roads in London.

They also sprayed orange paint over various buildings in the English capital, and staged headline-grabbing protests at the National Gallery, Madame Tussauds and Harrods.

Policing their protests last year cost the Metropolitan Police £7.5 million across nine weeks.

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