A Government minister blasted Just Stop Oil this morning after spotting they had targeted the Cenotaph on Whitehall as part of a renewed campaign to steal the spotlight.
Members of the group were spotted lying down on the floor at the base of the monolith, while workers prepared the spot ahead of Sunday’s Remembrance Day.
The protest comes amid concerns that pro-Palestinian groups may also disrupt Remembrance events around the Cenotaph this weekend.
Snapping a photo of the hi vis-wearing protestors, Government minister Andrew Bowie asked: “I’m not sure in what reality Just Stop Oil are living if they think gluing themselves to the Cenotaph during Remembrance week is going to win anyone over to their cause.”
He concluded by describing the pair as “total idiots”.
Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson suggested there was a “simple solution” to the attention-seeking stunt.
He said: “Simple solution here. Give them stronger glue and leave them there till Sunday.”
Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has also already condemned the group, saying: “Targeting the Cenotaph is totally unacceptable. Full support for the police in taking necessary enforcement action.”
Just Stop Oil invaded Whitehall with a large presence this lunchtime, with members of the group being dotted along the road from Westminster Bridge Road to the Cenotaph.
They were filmed being dragged off the road by officers outside the HMRC building.
The Met has said that “within 15 minutes” they arrested “at least 40 activists who were slow marching”.
They said: “Whitehall is now clear”.
The protest also comes shortly after two activists smashed a famous painting at the National Gallery.
The Rokeby Venus, painted by Diego Velázquez in the 17th century, was smashed by JSO protestors, emulating a suffragette who slashed it 100 years ago.
The Gallery says the pair have now been arrested.
Responding to the attack, Tory MP David Jones said: “Extraordinarily hard to see how cultural vandalism will warm people to Just Stop Oil’s cause”.
Former Justice Secretary Sir Robert Buckland added the attack on the portrait was “shocking”.
He added: “Just appalled to hear this”.
There is no immediate evidence that the JSO activists damaged the Cenotaph, though Suella Braverman warned anyone from the pro-Palestine groups who attempts to do so this weekend should be “put into a jail cell faster than their feet can touch the ground”.
This morning a duo of Tory MPs pointed out to Ms Braverman that a law has existed since 2022, which means there is a legal duty to protect war memorials.
Anyone found guilty under the Desecration of War Memorials clause in the Crime and Sentencing Act can be sent to prison for up to 10 years.
Its author, Jonathan Gullis MP, told the Express: “We cannot bring back those lives, or erase the grief of families and communities, but the least we can do is ensure that memorials are adequately protected, with the police enforcing the laws we passed to punish those who would deface or defile them.”
