ACTIVISTS with Just Stop Oil defied the Home Secretary today by taking action in west London after she announced new plans to crack down on protests by environmental groups.

Members of the climate campaign group blocked Park Lane in London at around 11am and covered an Aston Martin showroom opposite Hyde Park in orange spray paint.

The move came shortly after Suella Braverman unveiled plans that she said would give the police new powers to take a more “proactive” approach against some protests, including measures specifically aimed at tactics used by some environmental groups.

The Home Secretary is set to use the government’s Public Order Bill to allow secretaries of state to apply for injunctions in the “public interest” where protests are considered to be causing “serious disruption or a serious adverse impact on public safety,” essential goods or key infrastructure.

Just Stop Oil posted a message on Twitter which addressed the Home Secretary.

It read: “We will not be intimidated by changes to the law, we will not be stopped by injunctions sought to silence non-violent people.

“These are irrelevant when set against mass starvation, slaughter, the loss of our rights, freedoms and communities.

“The Home Secretary is demonstrating that politics is broken.

“She claims that ‘this government will not hesitate to act – and keep the law-abiding majority safe’.

“Yet the greatest threat to law and order is the climate crisis and the government … she is part of is seeking to extend UK fossil fuel extraction.”

“This is a criminal act.”

The Home Office said the proposed legislation would create a new criminal offence of interfering with infrastructures like airports, oil refineries, railways and printing presses, which would carry a maximum sentence of 12 months in prison, an unlimited fine, or both.

“Locking on” or “going equipped to lock-on” to people, buildings or objects to cause “serious disruption” could see people facing six months in prison or an unlimited fine.

And a new criminal offence of tunnelling to cause serious disruption will also be created.

Yesterday’s protests marked the 16th day of civil unrest this month, which has seen the police arrest over 440 people.

This weekend has also seen demonstrations from Extinction Rebellion.

The Home Secretary has promised to stop groups of demonstrators from holding the public “to ransom” and called for MPs to support the Public Order Bill when it returns to Parliament next week.