Are the Just Stop Oil Protests Disruptive or Democratic?

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Heightened media attention surrounding ‘Just Stop Oil’ protests over the past two years has resulted in a government crackdown on the legislation surrounding non-violent protest. This development raises concerns about the maintaining of public order and protecting democratic rights, prompting scrutiny over the implications of this debate.

(Hickson, 2023)

Introduction

Protesting can be defined as a non-institutionalised form of political participation by ordinary citizens to try influence the policies of the state. Understanding whether a protest will impact a policy also means to look at how it will impact public opinion. Just Stop Oil has sparked some controversy due to their protest methods causing disruption to the public, facing large attention in the media. In response to these protests, the government has introduced new legislation that will increase policing powers to help crack down on the disruption caused. However, many activists, such as Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org.uk, n.d.), have called for a change in legislation due to a threat on free speech and democracy. The first section of this blog will investigate the organisation ‘Just Stop Oil’, with the second section then looking at the government’s response to this method of non-violent protest.

Just Stop Oil

Just Stop Oil are a climate led organisation with a want for the UK to stop approving new fossil fuel projects (Just Stop Oil., 2024). They claim to use non-violent civil resistance, and that protest action will end once their demands have been met. Thus far, there has been no violent protest action from the group, however they have taken part in some rather large-scale protest in the last two years, to list a few (BBC, 2023):

  • Targeted Wimbledon and the world snooker championships in Sheffield.
  • Shut down M25 and Dartford crossing.
  • Targeted artwork such as Van Gogh’s paining, Sunflowers and Velazquez’s Rokeby Venus.
  • Targeted cultural events such as a performance of Les Misérables, and a BBC Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
  • Blocking roads, including glueing themselves to the ground, blocking ambulances and members of the public.

This therefore triggers the question is this method of disruption protest efficient in meeting their demands? A survey conducted by (Ozden, J and Glover, S., 2022) showed that most people in the survey did not support what Just Stop Oil were doing- with only 18% of people saying that they did support the movement. The study also showed that despite negative public opinion towards the protests there was no loss of support for climate policies. So, they have not impacted public opinion in a negative way however, there is also no evidence to suggest that they have in any way impacted government policy towards climate issues. This can be seen as a double-edged situation; due to the levels of media coverage they have received over the previous two years being seen positively.

(Gayle, 2022)

Government legislation

The UK governments response to these protests has not been to change policies, but instead to crack down on protesting legislation. This is in response to the disruption caused by Just Stop Oil and affiliated groups. Due to the policy of dissent towards fracking in the UK, there has been increased rights given to police to deal with these disruptive protests. Including lesioning with local police forces and public-private security partnerships, enabling the outsourcing of police communications to the drilling companies (Brock, A., 2020). Fracking operations are now classed as ‘nationally significant infrastructure projects’, this therefore allows for more coercive policing of protests.

On top of this, new legislation was put into place in February of this year to crack down specifically on blocking roads, covering faces when protesting, and the use of pyrotechnics. The minister for security, Tom Tugendhat says at the parliamentary debate that people can ‘no longer cite the right to protest as a reasonable excuse to get away with disruptive offences such as blocking roads’(Home Affairs Committee , 2024). There has been a negative response to this from activists stating that it threatens the future of democracy (www.amnesty.org.uk, n.d.). The debate leads to the position that there needs to be a balance between safeguarding the right to protest, and the importance of safeguarding the public.

Conclusion

The controversial nature of disruptive protest methods, exaggerated by the ‘Just Stop Oil’ movement, stems from their inherent risk to public safety and the lack of evidence regarding their efficiency in achieving their goals. Nevertheless, their ability to capture media and government attention highlights their significance in contemporary discourse. As legislative changes surrounding protests continues to spark debate, it is evident that the line between democratic protesting and safeguarding the public is blurred.

Reference list

BBC (2023). Just Stop Oil: What Is It and What Are Its goals? BBC News. [online] 8 Nov. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63543307.

Brock, A., 2020. ‘Frack off’: Towards an anarchist political ecology critique of corporate and state responses to anti-fracking resistance in the UK. Political Geography, 82, p.102246.

Gayle , D. (2022). Available at: https://grist.org/climate/inside-just-stop-oil-the-youth-climate-group-blocking-uk-refineries/ [Accessed 22 Apr. 2024].

Hickson, A. (2023). Just Stop Oil Activists Walking Up Whitehall. [Sony ILCE-7RM4 E 20-40mm F2.8 A062] 40.0mm. Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/alisdare/52926777514 [Accessed 22 Apr. 2024].

Home Affairs Committee (2024). Policing of protests – Report Summary. [online] UK Parliament , House of Commons : UK Parliament , pp.1–52. Available at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5804/cmselect/cmhaff/369/summary.html [Accessed 22 Apr. 2024].

Just Stop Oil (2022). Just Stop Oil – No More Oil and Gas. [online] Just Stop Oil. Available at: https://juststopoil.org/ [Accessed 21 Apr. 2024].

Norris P, Walgrave S, Van Aelst P (2005) Who Demonstrates? Antistate Rebels, Conventional Participants, or Everyone? Comparative Politics 37 (2): 189–205. 

Özden, J. and Glover, S., 2022. Disruptive climate protests in the UK didn’t lead to a loss of public support for climate policies.

Walker, I., 2024. Right to Protest: UK’s New Policing Bill is a Threat to Democracy–The New Federalist. 

www.amnesty.org.uk. (n.d.). Scrap new anti-protest laws. [online] Available at: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/scrap-new-anti-protest-laws#:~:text=They%20are%20trying%20to%20restrict [Accessed 22 Apr. 2024].