Furious driver ‘taking wife to hospital’ berates Just Stop Oil protesters in east London
15 October 2022, 15:02 | Updated: 19 October 2022, 09:27
Members of the public have clashed with protesters from the climate campaign group Just Stop Oil yet again, after activists blocked a major road - this time in east London.
In heated scenes today, a man was heard shouting "move out the way" at protesters sitting on the road, followed by another man appearing and dragging one of the protesters to the pavement.
The man then gets into a blue van with a woman in the driving seat, who starts revving forward at the protesters.
People can be heard yelling: "Don't do it"; "Where you going to go?"; and: "What the F***?"
The man then starts to shout out of the window: "My Mrs is not well, man she needs to get to the hospital, get out of the f****** way, now."
WARNING: Video contains strong language
#JustStopOil protesters currently blocking Shoreditch High street. Anger ensues. pic.twitter.com/4PGwS5a9iu
— Ollie Cole (@oliverjcole) October 15, 2022
Nearly 30 demonstrators gathered on Shoreditch High Street at the junction of Great Eastern Street just after noon on Saturday where they set up a road block to disrupt traffic.
The group, who are calling for the Government to halt all new oil and gas licences and consents, sat in the road with colourful banners and glued themselves to the tarmac.
But footage shared by the campaign group shows pedestrians and motorists growing angry at the protesters as they called for them to move.
The man later could be heard shouting: "Have some respect for other people not just yourselves, yeah? There are other people who have to get places."
It comes as the 15th consecutive day that Just Stop Oil have staged protests against the Government's approach to climate.
On Friday, protesters from the group were arrested after soup was thrown over Vincent Van Gogh's Sunflowers painting at the National Gallery, and paint was spayed over the rotating New Scotland Yard sign in London.
A spokesperson for Just Stop Oil said: "Our heritage, rights and freedoms are being destroyed by our Government's lies and the failure of politics, and right now millions of people are facing this brutal impact of climate change.
"Yet our Government is seeking to expand fossil fuel production.
"Ending new oil and gas is a no-brainer first step to ending the harm. The Government can at least end the disruption on the streets tomorrow, by announcing this policy.
"They have changed their mind on everything else."
The campaign group said there have been more than 400 arrests among their protesters since the action began two weeks ago.
The Met Police arrested 28 people on Friday amid the protests involving the Van Gogh painting and the New Scotland Yard sign.
