Just Stop Oil: Your eco-protests have gone too far - maybe it's time to Just Stop!

23 July 2024, 12:12

The jailing of five Just Stop oil protesters has been described as a "grotesque miscarriage of justice' and a "farce"...

Today more than 1,000 prominent lawyers, academics and celebrities have joined forces to protest about this "injustice" and demand a meeting with the attorney general to discuss this high-profile case.

Firstly who are they to demand a meeting with anybody - let alone the attorney general? And is this really a 'grotesque miscarriage of justice'?

It certainly isn't on a par with the heartbreaking case of Andrew Malkinson who spent 17 years in jail for a rape he did not commit.

Now that really is a miscarriage of justice.

Last week a group of five Just Stop Oil eco-fanatics were jailed for a combined total of 21 years for their part in a stunt that disrupted the M25 motorway for four days in 2022.

Before we rush to feel sorry for them, let's look at what their actions actually achieved.

• People missed flights
• People missed funerals
• School pupils delayed for their mock exams
• A child with special needs on his way to school who missed part of the school day and his medication which placed the taxi driver driving him there at risk
• Somebody suffering from an aggressive form of cancer, who missed an appointment at a clinic and had to wait two months for a further appointment
• People who were late to work and had to work extra hours without pay to make up the time
• An HGV driver unable to deliver £5,000 of food to a hospital

The judge found they caused over 50,000 hours of delay to road users at a total economic cost of almost £770,000, and a cost of more than £1m to the Met Police.

If their plans had succeeded, the resulting disruption would have been “catastrophic”. We would have seen mass road disruption across southern England with major implications for food supplies and access to life-saving emergency care.

They aren't my words. They are the words of the judge.

Just Stop Oil argue that that the urgency of their crusade – to stop the world from extracting and burning fossil fuels by 2030 – justifies their planned actions.

Ringleader Roger Hallam, who received a five-year sentence, claims to be the most influential environmentalist since David Attenborough and bizarrely has compared himself to Martin Luther King.

While the mother of one of the jailed eco-mob has bleated that her daughter will not be able to attend her son's wedding next Summer because she will be behind bars.

I'm sorry but Diddums!

What about the people unable to go to school or hospital because of these stunts? What about their rights? Are the rights of Just Stop Oil's eco-mob more important?

We all sympathise with the goal of protecting the environment. We all want our children to have a better quality of life than we have today and we are all aware of the importance of protecting our natural resources.

And yes, Just Stop Oil have the right to protest. They have the right to make their point in a peaceful, lawful manner.

But they are not God! They don't have the power of life and death.

Despite the way they behave they do not have the right to stop people from attending hospital appointments.

Now I note with horror that the group are turning their unwelcome attention to our cherished family holidays.

Instead of Just Stop Oil, lets make it Just Stop!

I truly hope these stiff sentences will help deter these further waves of Just Stop Oil disruption.

Because these Just Stop Oil attacks have to stop