Climate change protestors from Just Stop Oil have been wreaking havoc on the capital for the past week. The headline-grabbing tactics from the group started earlier in the year when activists superglued themselves to the copy of the Last Supper painting in the Royal Academy and to John Constable’s painting The Hay Wain in the National Gallery in July.
They’ve now taken things up a notch and are using a signature orange paint, or in the case of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, a similarly orange-coloured can of Heinz tomato soup, to attack various landmarks across London. You can hear protestor Phoebe Plummer explain the group’s actions here.
Over the past week, activists have targeted the painting of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers in the National Gallery, the sign outside New Scotland Yard, the outside of Harrods and the Aston Martin showroom on Park Lane. Thankfully, the paint can be washed away and the painting was protected with a layer of perspex, so minimal damage has been done.
Similar to the tactics of climate groups Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil have also been blocking roads across the city. Earlier today they staged a protest blocking High Holborn junction.
Earlier in the week the climate change group was served with an injunction by TfL to put a stop to ‘disruptive tactics’, meaning the police now have additional powers of arrest when it comes to similar protests.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: ‘It's really important when people feel strongly about these things they should protest peacefully and it should be safe.’
We’re still not sure if the injunction will do much, as activists have said they will only stop protesting if they are given the death penalty for their actions, which doesn’t seem likely.
The Thames has more microplastics than any city in the world.
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