In an effort to persuade Boris Johnson to lower the price of gasoline and diesel, fuel protestors who yesterday gridlocked roads, including the M4, are planning to shut down London towards the end of the month and “gridlock the entire city,” MailOnline can exclusively reveal.
Fuel Price Stand Against Tax (FPSAT) intends to gather in Parliament Square at noon on Friday, July 22, after moving slowly through the capital during morning rush hour out of concern that this summer’s “go slow” protests would become very violent.
As she called for a “zero tolerance” policy and the employment of severe new powers to stop them, Priti Patel suggested that the drivers should be detained and charged.
Recent legislation increased the maximum punishment for “wilful blockage of a highway” to six months in prison and an infinite fine. Previously, the penalty for the offense was merely a small fine of £100 to £150, which many eco-activists have had to pay in a number of cases where the sentencing judge even commended their dedication to environmental causes.
In one instance, after giving Insulate Britain supporters “another 10 minutes” to block a road in Birmingham, a police officer was shown on camera warning them to “just be careful” because “I don’t want to put nice people in a jail.” However, yesterday’s fair fuel advocates were detained, had their cars towed, and were encircled by up to 100 police officers.
One FPSAT member told MailOnline: ‘Priti Patel is going for us – but all we want is a fair deal on fuel so we can do our jobs. Look at how the climate change protesters have been treated. They cause chaos, are arrested and then released on bail the next day to do it all over again’.
Critics have blasted the ‘soft touch’ approach police have taken against climate activists who in some cases have been arrested dozens of times in recent months only to pop up again to shut down roads, oil refineries and even glue themselves to British national treasures such at Constable’s The Hay Wain at the National Gallery yesterday and a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper at the Royal Academy of Arts in London today.
A mob broke into the British Grand Prix on Sunday at Silverstone, according to Martin Brundle, and might have “sliced them into 100 pieces” or killed a driver, fan, or racing official. Today, six people were charged, including Louis McKechnie, the mastermind behind Just Stop Oil and a John Lennon impersonator who has already been detained 20 times.
Twelve drivers were detained yesterday while driving slowly on the M4 between England and Wales, while a third driver was detained close to the A38 in Bristol. The A92 in Scotland, the M5 in Devon, the M32, the M180 in Lincolnshire, and the A64 close to York were also backed up. Following yesterday’s demonstrations, a petition to lower fuel taxes has been launched as the price of a litre of diesel and unleaded gasoline reaches £2 per liter.
On Friday, July 22, supporters are urged to “meet your friends, congregate at Parliament Square, drive as slowly as you can, gridlock the entire city, bring it to its knees, aim is to stay and not move until we get action,” according to a post on the FPSAT Facebook page that MailOnline was able to view.
Yesterday, protestors were surrounded by up to 100 police officers, and about a dozen people were detained on suspicion of driving at 10 mph instead of the prearranged 30 mph. The slow-moving convoys on major thoroughfares are reportedly causing the government concern that they could become routine and herald the beginning of a new movement similar to the gilets jaunes across the Channel, where working-class protesters wearing yellow vests shut down France over various issues.