Environmental activists from Just Stop Oil attacked a luxury car dealership in central London on Sunday as part of a series of actions against oil and gas development that began in early October. As a group of activists blocked traffic in a sit-in protest on Park Lane on Sunday morning, one of them sprayed orange paint over the window of the Aston Martin dealership in one of the capital's most exclusive areas. The Just Stop Oil group launched a series of daily actions and blockades in the capital in early October. Two activists attacked Van Gogh's masterpiece Sunflowers at the National Gallery on Friday, hurling tomato soup at it and gluing themselves to the wall. Another spray-painting protest by the same group on Friday targeted the headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police. Then on Saturday, Animal Rebellion protesters poured milk onto shop floors and displays at high-end retailers across Britain, including Harrods in London, demanding the world end cattle farming. They are calling on the government to stop the exploitation of fossil fuels in the country, which the prime minister has decided to accelerate with further off-shore drilling. Faced with these recurring protests, the government has decided to strengthen the powers of the police. Interior Minister Suella Braverman said she was introducing new law legislation this week that would make it easier for the to take more "proactive" action against these groups, whose "guerrilla" actions she has already denounced in the past. The new law will "strengthen the security of transport networks, oil terminals and printing plants" to protect "vital national infrastructure or access to essential goods and services", she said. Several members of Just Stop Oil have already received prison sentences for their actions. In addition to Just Stop Oil, the minister is targeting Insulate Britain, which is calling for the insulation of all social housing in the country, and the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion, which has also announced further actions in the UK capital this weekend. — Euronews
