“A group that demands the state take more power is rarely one the state truly wants gone.”
Just Stop Oil is folding. But don’t mistake this for a retreat. Movements like this don’t vanish—they mutate.
Just Stop Oil, the controversial climate activist group, has announced it will disband by the end of this month. They call it “mission accomplished.” Government policy has now echoed their core demand—no new oil and gas licences. But beneath the surface, this is less a victory lap and more a tactical withdrawal.
From blocking motorways to defacing national heritage, Just Stop Oil became a byword for chaos. Their antics weren’t just unpopular—they were provocative, disruptive, and in many cases, dangerous. Public frustration turned to open hostility. Even the press—left, right, and centre—lost patience. The Sun called them a “criminal cult.” The Daily Mail labelled them “deranged.” And rightly so: they inflicted misery on working people just trying to go about their day.
The State Responded. And the Script Changed.
Police, stretched thin and demoralised, demanded stronger powers to confront this new activist breed. Parliament delivered. New laws came down like a hammer: obstructing infrastructure, “locking on,” even tunnelling—now criminalised. “Public nuisance” was redefined. Protest-as-performance art came to an end. Consequences arrived.
Just Stop Oil say they’ve won. But look closer. They’ve been ground down by backlash, by prosecutions, and very likely by a drying up of funds from foreign donors like the Climate Emergency Fund. Reality has arrived.
Middle-Class Radicals Don’t Fare Well in Police Custody
This was always a movement of upper-middle-class spectacle, not sacrifice. They were used to media indulgence, not mugshots. They’re discovering what happens when the thrill of protest turns into the cold steel of a cell door.
The doors that once opened easily—activist grants, TV slots, government meetings—are now slammed shut. The group’s leaders aren’t martyrs. They’re liabilities.
But Don’t Be Fooled. They’ll Be Back.
Radical movements rarely disappear. They re-emerge with new names and logos, but always have the same agenda. They paint themselves as rebels, but they are not revolutionaries. They are accelerants of state power.
They push governments to seize greater control over energy—and by extension, over the lives of ordinary people. “They claim to fight the system. In reality, they’re just giving it more power.”
That’s the great irony. These aren’t anti-establishment rebels. They are useful tools for technocratic control.
A movement that hands more power to the state was never the enemy. It was the Trojan horse.
📢 Stay Alert. Stay Grounded. Stay Free.
Just Stop Oil may be gone, but the agenda marches on. Under new banners, through new names, and with new funding.
