Portsmouth Just Stop Oil activist defends actions after group soaked in water during slow moving road march

The group protestors were walking in the middle of a road in London yesterday. Dressed in bright orange high visibility vests and brandishing placards, the group slowly walked down Rochester Road in Camden, north London.

Disgruntled drivers and dismissive onlookers hurled abuse at them as they marched. Video footage from the scene, shared on the Daily Telegraph YouTube channel and elsewhere, shows water being thrown over them from a balcony.

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The signs that the demonstrators were carrying read: ‘For my family’, ‘New Oil = Murder’ and ‘I won’t die quietly’. Paul Bleach, a gardener and fulltime carer from Portsmouth, was on the streets on Thursday. said disruptive actions are the only way to protest effectively and lead to real change.

He said: ‘We are marching in the road because sadly all other forms of dissent are ignored.’ The video also showed a man shouting and swearing at the marchers from the balcony.

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In a public statement, Just Stop Oil said: ‘At around 8am, 24 Just Stop Oil supporters, in four groups, began marching on key roads in Camden, Battersea, Wandsworth and Borough. At 8.10am, a frustrated resident threw a bucket of water over a “mini-march” of six people on Rochester Road in Camden.’

Ru Kenyon, a teacher from London involved in the march, said: ‘I hate causing disruption, but my conscience says I have to put myself in harm’s way by marching in the street, in the same way those demanding change have done for hundreds of years.’