In the UK, a new crackdown on environmental activists is becoming increasingly harsh: sitting on a road or throwing paint on a work of art in a museum can now be punished with a prison sentence.

London

The UK has enacted new laws imposing harsher penalties on environmental activists, including prison sentences for actions such as sitting on roads or throwing paint at artworks. Over 3,000 activists have been arrested in recent years, with some facing up to ten years in prison under the new offence of causing public nuisance. The legislation applies even to non-violent demonstrations that do not damage property, and has resulted in several activists receiving lengthy sentences.

Legal experts and campaigners warn that these measures could threaten the future of environmental movements in the country, as the risk of severe punishment may deter participation. The government defends the crackdown, citing the significant disruptions and financial costs caused by the protests.

New crackdown on environmental activists

Their attention-grabbing stunts have been seen around the world. Throwing soup at Van Gogh's Sunflowers, blasting paint at Stonehenge, the radical environmental group Just Stop Oil has wrapped up their civil disobedience campaign since the British government decided to respond in the harshest terms with prison sentences for protesters. More than 3,000 of their activists have been arrested in the last three years. After one final demo, they're now hanging up their orange high-vis vests. The sentencing, astronomical, basically, and it's very difficult to do it. My daughter, when she was 19, she's been in prison twice. I feel that it's time for people not to be arrested anymore. Dozens of British environmental activists have been sent to prison since 2022 with terms of up to five years. Now those sort of protesters are being charged with a controversial new offence, causing public nuisance. That includes climbing over a motorway bridge, demonstrating on the streets of London. Some people have even been convicted for simply intending to stick their hand to the tarmac at an airport, or for taking part in a video call with other activists. The new law applies to people participating in non-violent demos which cause no harm to public or private property. It's not just people like Andrew Dames. In 2022, the 60-year-old environmental campaigner took part in the blockade of one of the country's busiest motorways. This is the gantry over the M25 that I'd climbed up. If I zoom in, you can see me being taken down by the police. It was one of Andrew's first climate protests. For four days, activists slowed down traffic bringing 180,000 vehicles to a standstill. The engineer and father of four is currently facing up to ten years in prison for public nuisance. Of course I feel scared, completely scared. Nobody's going to look forward to going to prison. Five years ago, people would have been completely stunned that you're doing peaceful protests that people, in principle, could get ten years. Sentences like that are what worry those defending the rights of activists like this lawyer. He says they could threaten the existence of well-established environmental movements. They can be punished with ten years' imprisonment to do anything that causes any obstruction to anyone. In other words, that could be anything other than sitting quietly in the corner. There are not going to be many people in a position to take that kind of risk. The British government has justified this crackdown by citing disruptions to public order caused by the demos, which they say cost tens of millions of pounds every year.

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