Just Stop Oil zealots travelled hundreds of miles from Scotland for London protest
A megaphone-wielding eco zealot travelled hundreds of miles from Scotland to lead a march in London. Ruth Lanser was one of 25 fanatics causing mayhem in the capital this morning and has now come under fire after journeying some 400 miles to join two slow marches in the city. The campaigner, who claims to have studied at the School of Arts, was one of several Scots known to have made the trip south today, with others including a grandmother-of-five from Fife. Ms Lanser, who was cleared in January of obstructing lawful activity after sitting on a lorry at a fuel depot in last year during another eco protest, was filmed leading a march through the City of London financial district. Armed with her megaphone, the eco-activist in her twenties shouted: 'I have travelled from Glasgow because my Government is not listening to me. 'We are looking at recent IPCC reports that tell us we are not on track to meet our goals and yet the Government is about to license a new oil project that is the equivalent of 28 lower-income countries' emissions. 'This project is called Rosebank and it is a death sentence to everyone on this planet.' She was joined by pensioner Julie Redman, 72, a grandmother-of-seven from Fife, Scotland - which is about 450 miles away from London. In a statement released by Just Stop Oil, the retired NHS worker added: 'Im in despair about the climate crisis. It is accelerating at an alarming pace and yet our government is still giving out new licences for oil, gas and coal. 'It is my grandchildren who will bear the brunt of climate breakdown and I want to be able to tell them that I did everything I could to prevent climate catastrophe.' Just Stop Oil confirmed a number of campaigners had travelled from Scotland to take part in a 'week of protests' - but officials declined to comment on whether the activists had journeyed by car or public transport. People online have since blasted the group and accused zealots of making the cross-country trip to join the fossil fuel protest in petrol-guzzling cars. One Twitter user said: 'How did Ruth get from Glasgow to London? Did she walk?' Another asked: 'Wouldn't have been better for the environment if Ruth had done her march in Glasgow.' While a third quipped: 'She must have left before Christmas if she strolled all the way at that pace.' However, a spokeswoman for Just Stop Oil hit back, telling MailOnline: 'Why should they not travel from Scotland to protest in the capital about new oil and gas? 'It is the UK Government, not the Scottish Government, that has the power to make the decision to end new oil and gas. 'Our supporters from Scotland have the same rights as everyone else living in the UK to resist the Government's genocidal plans.' Others took aim at the number of people involved in today's rally, with Jamie MacDonald saying: '26 People. Smashing it guys. Think your beginning to blend into the background now, this daily approach isn't working.' A third protester, named only as 'Kat', aged 20, also travelled from Scotland to march in London. In a video released on social media, she said: 'I'm here because I realised that my inaction was going to make me completely unable to live with myself... the climate crisis was getting worse and I was sitting there thinking "that someone else would do something about it" and I realised that no-one else was going to change this.' Today's mayhem began at 8am when about 25 protesters, wearing hi-vis jackets and armed with orange banners, began slowly marching through the City of London. The rush-hour demonstration caused carnage for commuters, with bumper-to-bumper traffic that triggered outrage from exasperated motorists. As the climate change campaigners slowly strolled through the city surrounded by about a dozen police officers, one white van driver vented his fury and bluntly demanded: 'Move them out the way, I've got money to make.' Police were scrambled shortly after 8.15am to break up the first march, as eco zealots strolled from the Barbican. The demonstration ended by 9.15am.