Policing Just Stop Oil demonstrations cost the Met £4.5million over a six-week period
POLICING Just Stop Oil cost £4.5million over a six-week period when they staged demonstrations every day.
In the six weeks up to 8 June, nearly 13,770 officer shifts had been used dealing with the demonstrations, the Met said.
The sum is on top of £7.5million previously spent policing protests between last October and December, as activists climbed M25 gantries and Kent’s Dartford Crossing.
The £7.5million sum is equivalent to funding 150 cops for a whole year and left Home Secretary Suella Braverman fuming: “Enough is enough.”
Met figures show 755 arrests, of which 184 so far have led to charges.
Observers warn the cost of policing the demos across the UK will be likely double the Met’s.
On top of the Just Stop Oil demonstrations, one in ten days has been affected by national rail walkouts in the past year.
Since the first strike in 2022, 37 days have been hit by nationwide walkouts involving one or both of the main rail unions: Aslef, representing train drivers, and the RMT.
Strikes took place on 2 and 3 June and are set to continue through the summer, with the unions and employers further apart than ever.
Eco-anarchist group, Extinction Rebellion, have had around 2,000 demonstrators prosecuted since 2019.