Policing Extinction Rebellion Protests Has Cost The Met £37MILLION

22 October 2019, 15:09 | Updated: 22 October 2019, 15:11

Policing the Extinction Rebellion protests has cost Scotland Yard £37million so far this year.

In a media briefing this morning, the Met Police Commissioner told journalists that around £6million was spent on drafting officers from across England and Wales.

The two-week action, which finished last week, cost the Met £21million.

But Cressida Dick say the total will be many millions more, as they haven't calculated all expenses yet.

Dame Cressida said: "We are certainly at the point where I would say to Extinction Rebellion this is placing a horrendous strain on London, and on the Met.

"From the Met's point of view, a big cost to us and the people who pay for us. Huge drain on our people's resources and energy, causing their families to have to make massive changes in their personal arrangements.

"Frankly, a less good service to the rest of London. Partly because people get tired and partly because we just had to slow down certain types of inquiries, certain types of investigations would just be done more slowly and some things won't ever be done at all."

Nearly 8,000 Metropolitan Police officers were deployed during the October action by Extinction Rebellion, with 21,000 asked to work 12-hour shifts for part of the fortnight.

Officers were taken off local patrol duties while the protests took place, Dame Cressida revealed.

A total of 1,828 protesters were arrested, of whom 164 have so far been charged.

Dame Cressida Dick also revealed UK investigators have stopped 24 terrorist plots since April 2017.