Furious commentator demands ‘those responsible’ for London graffiti pay

A political commentator has said enough is enough and the activists responsible for graffiti in London should pay.

Isabel Oakeshott, the international editor at TalkTV, has taken to social media to comment on the graffiti on the Ministry of Defence.

A number of demonstrators sprayed red paint over the walls of the building in Whitehall before displaying a banner reading “Youth demand an end to genocide”.

Youth Demand and Palestine Action said they were demanding that both the Conservative and Labour parties pledge to impose a ban on buying arms from or selling arms to Israel.

UK arms sales to Israel since 2015 are to the value of at least £489m worth of military exports. That includes parts for combat aircraft, missiles, tanks, technology, small arms and ammunition.

Five people have been arrested by the Metropolitan Police and the British Transport Police in connection with the incident on suspicion of criminal damage.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, Oakeshott said: “It is time those responsible are forced to pay for the repairs. Each and every penny. It’s a disgrace.

“Every single person who commits this kind of criminal vandalism should understand that the precise cost of it is known to the exact penny and that the bill will be sent to them.

“If they are working, it will automatically be deducted from their income, if they’re on benefits it will be deducted from that, if they have money in the bank they will have to pay upfront.

“I believe that would act as a real deterrent to this kind of casual desecration of public and private buildings by thoughtless protestors.

“The MoD building is part of our city, it’s a public symbol. It’s also close to Parliament and other landmarks that tourists come to see. Vandalising them is just awful.

“And the MoD has bigger things to worry about than cleaning paint off their building, they keep our country safe.”

Scotland Yard said it would “never tolerate people causing criminal damage to buildings under the guise of protest”.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the Armed Forces “can’t and won’t be intimidated”. He described the protesters as “the opposite, cowardly criminals”.

In a post on X he said those inside the MoD “stand up to dictators & terrorists every day – patriots, many of whom put their lives at risk to protect us all”.

The activist group Youth Demand also staged a protest outside Keir Starmer’s home and sprayed paint on Labour’s headquarters in London.

Youth Demand, a new youth resistance campaign fighting for an end to genocide, said: “Young people will not accept the future those in charge have in store for us. We will not die quietly whilst our leaders commit us to a future of suffering and mass death. Young people are coming together to fight back.”