A EUROPE-wide plot to ruin holidays was busted yesterday when Just Stop Oil wreckers were arrested in seven countries.
The eco-zealots had billed the day as an “international uprising” by seven groups under the banner “Oil Kills”.
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But it ground to a halt after a series of police swoops.
And last night there were demands for authorities to throw the book at them to prevent a possible summer of chaos.
Seven protesters were led away in handcuffs from Heathrow before they could make it on to a runway. Three others were arrested at other locations.
Airport chiefs said there was “no impact on operations whatsoever”.
The group, seen on bikes at the perimeter fence, were held at 9am under the Public Order Act on suspicion of conspiring to interfere with a site of key national infrastructure. Cutting gear and glue were found.
Other arrests came in Germany, Norway, Finland, Spain, Austria and Switzerland.
The drama unfolded after Extinction Rebellion mastermind Roger Hallam and four others were last week jailed for up to five years after The Sun exposed their campaign to block motorways in 2022.
The latest plot appeared to be coordinated from the UK, with the press team behind Just Stop Oil pushing out a pre-planned release on behalf of the group.
It named two of those arrested as Sally Davidson, a 36-year-old a hairdresser from Portland, Dorset, and Adam Beard, 55, a gardener from Stroud, Gloucs.
A spokesman for Heathrow confirmed: “Thanks to swift action from the police and airport colleagues, there is no disruption to passenger journeys.
“We are in full agreement that the aviation industry needs to decarbonise, but unlawful and irresponsible protest activity will not be tolerated.”
The Metropolitan Police said: “Thanks to the work of officers involved, those arrested have been taken into custody and the Met has prevented significant disruption to the airport and travelling public.”
Chief Supt Ian Howells, who led the police operation, said it was “completely unacceptable” for protesters to target “hard working families going on their summer holidays”.
‘Extremely reckless’
He added: “This planned action was extremely reckless and would have represented a real risk to the travelling public.
“Had it not been for these arrests, flights would have been suspended impacting thousands of passengers and businesses including hard working families going on their summer holidays.
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“It could also have caused serious danger to passengers and aircraft with flights being diverted and cancelled.”
He went on: “The Met will continue to work with our national policing colleagues, airport operators and the wider aviation sector to prevent such criminal acts and to safeguard the travelling public.
“Anyone who compromises the safety and security of our airports will face the full force of the law.”
The coming weeks are expected to see 8.9 million Brits jetting off on summer holidays.
Last night Shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Privileged protesters blocking hardworking people from going about their business, on holiday or to see their family need to get a grip.
“They must surely know they aren’t winning anyone to their cause and need to be met with the full force of the law.
They must surely know they aren’t winning anyone to their cause and need to be met with the full force of the law
James Cleverly
“I’d like to thank the officers who helped foil their latest antics.”
Protesters at Cologne-Bonn airport in Germany were more successful, cutting through fences at 4am before glueing themselves to tarmac close to the runway.
Inbound flights were diverted before police said they had completed their operation at 8am.
In Oslo, Norway, three activists broke the perimeter fence at Gardermoen airport and sat down near to the tarmac but police moved them after half an hour.
In Helsinki protesters from Extinction Rebellion Finland, known as Elokapina, tried to block security gates but disappeared shortly after police arrived.
Spanish activist group Futuro Vegetal said five of its protesters had been intercepted at Barcelona El Prat airport while trying to get on the runway.
At Vienna airport, Last Generation Austria spilled orange paint and held signs reading “Oil kills”.
In Switzerland, 11 members of two groups blocked roads on the way to Zurich and Geneva airports.
‘Shake things up’
Five were arrested, with one — 74-year-old Rita Straub — claiming she was hoping to “shake things up, to exert pressure”.
Earlier in the year, Just Stop Oil announced plans to target airports and warned: “We won’t be taking action alone.
“Resistance groups across several countries in Europe have agreed to work together.
“That means this summer’s actions will be internationally coordinated. This summer’s actions across multiple countries will go down in history.”
Meanwhile, left-wingers have blasted last week’s jail sentences for motorway plotters.
Resistance groups across several countries in Europe have agreed to work together
Just Stop Oil
Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington which includes Heathrow, called the terms “brutally unjust”.
A court had heard how The Sun discovered the plot and tipped off National Highways, which got an emergency High Court injunction.
But the rabble still scaled gantries over the M25, forcing police to stop traffic.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
The disruption caused 50,000 hours of vehicle delays and cost the Met alone more than £1million.
XR “ideas man” Hallam, 58, Daniel Shaw, 38, Louise Lancaster, 58, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, 35, and Cressida Gethin, 22, were all convicted of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Hallam was sentenced to five years and the others to four.
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Van Gogh soup toss yob ‘ready to risk jail’
A JUST Stop Oil activist who tossed a can of soup over a Van Gogh Sunflowers painting told a court she is prepared to go to prison for her cause.
Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, both 22, threw two tins of Heinz soup at the 1888 oil on canvass masterpiece at London’s National Gallery in October 2022 before gluing themselves to the wall.
The £72.5million artwork is protected by a glass cover, but its 17th century Italian frame was damaged.
Plummer told Southwark crown court yesterday, she has a “deep” fear of climate change.
She said: “I am willing to risk time in prison. That is how serious it is.”
Plummer, of Clapham, South West London, said she knew the painting would be protected by glass and was “not hugely concerned” about the frame.
She and Holland, of Newcastle, deny criminal damage. Trial continues.
