STOP OIL PROTEST: London electric taxi driver ‘doing my bit’ asks protester ‘why stop me?’
Updated: Oct 12, 2022
Just Stop Oil supporters have blocked key roads in London today causing delays and disruption for the eleventh day running.
One taxi driver who has invested £10,000’s on a new Zero Emissions Capable (ZEC) black cab was blocked by protestors. He was heard saying "I'm doing my bit, so why do you stop me?"
At 10am, 32 Just Stop Oil supporters established 3 roadblocks on Knightsbridge and Brompton Road stopping traffic in either direction. The protesters sat in the road, some gluing themselves to the tarmac.
They are demanding that the Government halts all new oil and gas licences and consents.
According to the Daily Mail a taxi driver was captured on film saying: “How do I pay my bills? I've got one of these, an electric taxi. I paid £70,000 for that. I'm doing my bit, so why do you stop me?"
The answer could not be heard, but the driver replied: "What you're asking for is years and years and years away, it don't happen overnight. How stupid are you?”
A protester was then heard saying: “We've got eight years of reserves of oil already, we don't need more, we don't need to take more.”
The frustrated cabbie added: “Yeah, you can't do this - and it doesn't happen overnight, does it?”
On Saturday, 24 protestors linked to the Just Stop Oil group were arrested for obstructing the highway after they blocked Edgware Road/Upper Berkeley Street and Marylebone Road/Baker Street.
On Sunday afternoon, 47 people from the same group were arrested when they blocked roads in the vicinity of Piccadilly Circus with some using locking devices to try and delay police interventions.
Superintendent Chris Green, who led the policing operation, said: “This weekend we saw repeated efforts to cause damage to businesses and to unreasonably disrupt the lives of ordinary Londoners by blocking roads.
“The policing operation required to respond to these challenges is significant. It requires many officers out on the ground in key locations in addition to those who are needed to process prisoners and then carry out the investigations to turn arrests into charges and ultimately, outcomes at court.
“We fully support peaceful protest and will always try to work with organisers so that protests can go ahead safely, but the public rightly expect us to respond swiftly and effectively where protest crosses the line into criminality.
“Thanks to the dynamic and effective response of the dedicated men and women who were on duty over the past two days, we have identified offenders, prevented further incidents of criminal damage and kept disruption in central London to a minimum.”
