Braverman to meet police and sporting leaders over Just Stop Oil protests

Home Secretary Suella Braverman is to hold talks with senior sporting figures and police leaders on protecting Wimbledon and other events this summer from disruptive protests.

Event organisers and national sporting bodies will meet Ms Braverman and Sports Secretary Lucy Frazer on Wednesday to discuss the Just Stop Oil and Animal Rising groups.

Ministers fear further “guerrilla protests” will follow the action seen last week at the Ashes.

As the first round got under way on Monday, Wimbledon was on high alert for disruption. Organisers were blaming slow queues on increased security checks.

As well as Just Stop Oil’s brief disruption of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s, the Gallagher Premiership rugby final at Twickenham and the World Snooker Championship have been affected in recent months.

The Home Office declined to set out which policing leaders and sporting groups are attending the meeting.

Writing in The Sun, Rishi Sunak praised England cricketer Jonny Bairstow for having “coolly carried away” the Just Stop Oil “eco-zealot” who had disrupted the match.

“As Bairstow showed at Lord’s, people want an end to this disruption,” the Prime Minister said.

“And I will work with the police and sporting authorities to ensure we do stop it.”

Johnny Mercer said the Prime Minister was not advocating for the public to break the law if inconvenienced by environmental protesters.

The veterans minister, asked on ITV’s Good Morning Britain about whether Mr Sunak’s comments could be seen as endorsing motorists to emulate Bairstow, said: “I think the Prime Minister has written the piece, which is very calibrated.

“The newspaper has written the headline – I don’t think the Prime Minister would suggest that anyone take the law into their own hands.

“I think he is describing a sense of feeling in the country that everyone has the right to protest but, in terms of bringing so much disruption to people’s lives who are just going about their everyday lives, it is not right.

“You’ve seen some legislation come forward in that space and we’re trying to deal with a very difficult problem.”