Just Stop Oil protesters disrupt hearing into Met's coronation policing

A hearing into the Metropolitan Police's treatment of protesters on Coronation day was briefly interrupted by Just Stop Oil activists.

The Home Affairs Committee's hearing was paused about 25 minutes into proceedings on Wednesday morning.

Voices could be heard in the chamber, followed by people groaning and asking for security to intervene, before the video feed cut out.

Separately, eight Just Stop Oil members were arrested at Parliament Square.

The Metropolitan Police said they were detained after conditions to move out of the road in central London were not complied with.

Chief Constable Chris Noble, protest lead at the National Police Chiefs' Council, and Met Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist were answering questions from MPs during the committee session.

Behind them was a small group of activists wearing white T-shirts with Just Stop Oil written on them.

Before the group was removed, Dr Kush Naker, 33, a doctor of infectious diseases from London, said "our democracy is under threat" as he started to read a prepared statement.

The protest group said 28 people had been marching to Parliament as the hearing took place to call on the government to stop licensing new oil and gas projects "which they know will contribute to the deaths of millions."

A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said removing the protesters from the committee room was "a continuation of the silencing of legitimate dissent we saw at the Coronation".

"This is clearly politically motivated and represents a massive overreach by the police.

"No evidence has been provided and now those wrongfully arrested are being prevented from giving evidence to the very committee that has been organised to assess the policing during the Coronation," the spokesperson said.

After the protesters were removed and the hearing resumed, MP Tim Loughton said: "To be clear, they were Just Stop Oil protesters who tried to undermine the activities of this committee with our witnesses today."

Committee chairwoman, Labour MP Dame Diana Johnson, said it was important that Parliament is open to members of the public, but "we also take very seriously that we should not be disrupted from our job of scrutinising, particularly what happened in this case".

She went on to thank security and police officers who acted quickly so the session could continue.

Before the hearing was interrupted, Mr Twist defended the policing of the Coronation, which saw 64 people arrested in London under the Public Order Act 2023.Those arrested included six people from the anti-monarchy group Republic, as well as three Night Stars volunteers for Westminster City Council.