CLIMATE activist group Just Stop Oil (JSO) announced today it will “hang up the hi-vis,” declaring victory in its campaign to end new oil and gas projects.

The group, known for controversial direct action protests such as throwing soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers and spray painting Charles Darwin’s grave, said it had achieved its primary goal.

In a statement, the campaign group said: “JSO’s initial demand to end new oil and gas is now government policy, making us one of the most successful civil resistance campaigns in recent history.

“We’ve kept over 4.4 billion barrels of oil in the ground and the courts have ruled new oil and gas licences unlawful.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman denied the government had handed JSO “a win,” saying: “We have been very clear when it comes to oil and gas that it has a future for decades to come in our energy mix.”

The campaigners said that while they were ending their direct action, they would be continuing to “tell the truth” in the courts as trials continued.

JSO also said they would hold a final action in Parliament Square on Saturday April 26.

Greenpeace UK co-executive director Will McCallum said: “JSO paid a heavy price for raising their voices at a time when politicians and corporations are trying to silence peaceful protesters — in the streets and in the courts.

“We must not allow our hard-won right to protest to be stripped away, because it is the right that all other rights depend upon.

“Greenpeace and many others will continue to defend this proud tradition of taking action on issues that matter to make change possible.”