Eye-watering sum that Met Police spent responding to Just Stop Oil protests revealed
POLICING Just Stop Oil protests cost Britain’s biggest force £7.5million in just nine weeks, it emerged yesterday.
It is equivalent to funding 150 cops for a whole year and left Home Secretary Suella Braverman fuming: “Enough is enough.”
Data obtained under freedom laws revealed how London’s Met Police spent £630,000 a day during action periods by the climate protest group.
The sum was racked up between October 1-14 and November 28 to December 14, where protestors disrupted roads and sprayed paint over buildings and artwork.
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.
Met commander Karen Findlay said the cash could have been spent better “in local communities dealing with priority crime”.
Just Stop Oil’s Graham Buss said the costs were “proportionate” given the price of “adapting to climate change”.
The Government wants to tighten laws around protests through a Public Order Bill.
Ms Braverman said: “It is our duty to stand up for the law-abiding public and protect their right to go about their business.”