Now Insulate Britain block PORT at Dover as eco mob make a mockery of Priti Patel’s injunction
Now Insulate Britain block PORT at Dover and climb on top of fuel tankers and lorries carrying petrol and food to Britain’s stricken forecourts and supermarkets as eco mob make a mockery of Priti Patel’s injunction
The Insulate Britain activists swarmed on the Port of Dover this morning and blocked access from the roadLong queues of lorries were seen shortly after the protest by around 40 members of the eco-mob startedThis morning’s protest makes a mockery of Priti Patel’s injunction which blocked the group from the M25
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
(function (src, d, tag){
var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0];
s.src = src;
prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev);
}(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/1.17.0/async_bundle–.js”, document, “script”));
<!–
DM.loadCSS(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/gunther-2159/video_bundle–.css”);
<!–
Insulate Britain protesters have blocked roads at the Port of Dover – making a mockery of Priti Patel‘s injunction against them.
More than 40 activists across two groups have blocked the A20 road in Kent which provides access to the Port of Dover.
The port is the busiest ferry port in Europe and is the UK’s main gateway for trade from the EU. It is responsible for 17% of the UK’s trade in goods and handles £122 billion in trade a year. Every hour, 400 to 500 trucks come into the port, with a similar number going out. It was used by an average of 6,200 road haulage vehicles every day last year.
The protest comes amid a growing supply crisis with a shortage of lorry drivers leading to BP closing petrol stations and leaving some supermarkets with empty shelves. The shortage is already threatening to derail Christmas plans for Brits and it is feared today’s protest could worsen the situation.
One eco-zealot even climbed on top of a tanker and refused to come down, while holding a sign that claimed he had been arrested four times previously.
Some of the activists sat down at the entrance to the terminal and glued themselves to the road, blocking off routes to the port.
They were confronted by angry drivers, with one saying the demonstration stopped her from getting to her granddaughter.
Another said: ‘Do you realise that you’re actually losing the cause because I would’ve supported you but I’ve got children that are supposed to be going to school.’
Insulate Britain has shut down parts of the M25 motorway around London five times in just over a week in a bid to force the Government to insulate and retrofit homes across the UK to cut climate emissions.
The move, which has seen hundreds arrested, has prompted an angry backlash in some quarters.
The Government has successfully applied to the High Court for an order which prohibits anyone from blocking the M25 with those breaking the injunction facing a possible two years in prison or an unlimited fine. However, the group appeared to make a mockery of the injunction this morning by holding up traffic at the Port of Dover.
Insulate Britain protesters blocking the A20 in Kent, this morning, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent
Protesters from Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent
Several lorries were blocked by the Insulate Britain eco-mob at the Port of Dover this morning – threatening to worsen Britain’s HGV shortage crisis
Protesters from Insulate Britain sit on top of a vehicle as they block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent
The environmental activists have moved location after been banned from campaigning on the M25 motorway in London
Some of the activists sat down at the entrance to the terminal and glued themselves to the road, blocking off routes to the port
Protesters from Insulate Britain block the A20 in Kent, which provides access to the Port of Dover in Kent
Police officers tried to remove the protesters, though many of them appeared to have glued themselves to the road
Police officers were seen attempting to drag protesters away from the road, although it is unclear if they were successful
Protest group Insulate Britain say more than 40 supporters across two groups have blocked the A20 road in Kent which provides access to the Port of Dover
The protest comes despite the government taking out an injunction against the group to stop them blocking the M25
The port is the busiest ferry port in Europe and is the UK’s main gateway for trade from the EU
Access to the port was blocked by the group with an ambulance also seemingly stopped
Protesters glued themselves to the road and infuriated drivers at the Port of Dover this morning. There were several confrontations between drivers and activists
Police officers clashed with the protesters and attempted to drag them from the road shortly after the protest started
A spokesperson for Insulate Britain outlined why the group, which wants the Government to insulate and retrofit homes across the UK, blocked Europe’s busiest ferry port on Friday morning.
They said: ‘We are blocking Dover this morning to highlight that fuel poverty is killing people in Dover and across the UK.
‘We need a Churchillian response: We must tell the truth about the urgent horror of the climate emergency. Change at the necessary speed and scale requires economic disruption.
‘We wish it wasn’t true, but it is. It’s why the 2000 fuel protests got a U-turn in policy and gave Blair his biggest challenge as Prime Minister.’
The spokesperson added: ‘We are sorry for the disruption that we are causing. It seems to be the only way to keep the issue of insulation on the agenda and to draw attention to how poorly insulated homes are causing ill health, misery and early death for many thousands of people.
‘We are failing the country’s cold hungry families and the elderly and placing an enormous burden on the NHS.
‘Insulating our leaky homes is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce carbon emissions and it has all these additional benefits – reducing fuel poverty, creating jobs, reducing the burden on the NHS and protecting people from overheating during future heat waves. It’s a no-brainer. Boris just needs to get on with the job.’
The Port of Dover said in a statement: ‘Port of Dover confirms protesters are currently blocking the entrance to the port.
‘Please allow extra time for your journey and check with your ferry operator for updates. The port remains open.’
Long traffic queues were spotted outside the port shortly after the group staged its protest
Today’s protest comes amid shortages of food and petrol as the HGV crisis continues to bite.
On Thursday Rod McKenzie of the Road Haulage Association trade body said that the Government had allowed the driver shortage to get ‘gradually worse’ in recent months.
‘We have got a shortage of 100,000 (drivers),’ he told BBC’s Newsnight.
‘When you think that everything we get in Britain comes on the back of a lorry, whether it’s fuel or food or clothes or whatever it is, at some point, if there are no drivers to drive those trucks, the trucks aren’t moving and we’re not getting our stuff.’
He added: ‘I don’t think we are talking about absolutely no fuel or food or anything like that, people shouldn’t panic buy food or fuel or anything else, that’s not what this is about.
‘This is about stock outs, it’s about shortages, it’s about a normal supply chain being disrupted.’
Panic buying at the pumps has already begun today amid fears fuel rationing is on the way due to the UK’s crippling HGV driver shortage – as Transport Secretary Grant Shapps tried to calm nerves by urging Britons ‘carry on as normal’.
Queues of cars were seen spilling out on to the road from forecourts in Tonbridge, Kent, in Ely, Cambridgeshire, and Brighton, Sussex, this morning – just a day after fuel bosses warned of petrol and diesel rationing and petrol station closures.
The scenes of queues outside petrol stations – which for some will stir up memories of the 1973 Opec Oil Crisis – come amid fears of a 1978-style ‘winter of discontent’ for the UK with skyrocketing energy prices, food shortages and fuel rationing.
Yesterday BP announced plans to ration fuel and shut stations, supermarkets warned of food shortages and more energy firms went bust amid rising gas prices – sparking fears of a new ‘winter of discontent’.
And in a particularly unhelpful addition to the problem, eco-mob Insulate Britain returned to the roads today to block of a route to Port of Dover – Europe’s busiest port and the UK’s main gateway for trade from the EU.
It comes as Petrol Retailers Association last night warned drivers to ‘keep a quarter of a tank’ of fuel in their vehicles in preparation for potential closures of local petrol stations.
Gerald Ronson, owner of almost 300 Rontec – BP, Texaco and forecourts across the country, told The Telegraph he expects fuel court disruption to last for more than four weeks.
He said: ‘With everybody coming back to work – more cars on the road because people don’t want to use buses or trains – this has drained a lot of fuel.’
Number 10 said last night that ‘we acknowledge there are issues facing many industries across the UK’ as the nation heads into the colder months.
It comes Ministers faced fresh pressure to ease immigration rules as an emergency measure to attract HGV drivers from overseas amid warnings that 100,000 more were needed across the industry.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps today hinted at the possibility, saying he would move ‘heaven and earth’ to tackle the ‘systemic issue’ of HGV driver shortages.
He also claimed delivery firms were offering huge salaries in a bid to entice drivers who have left the industry to come back – with one ‘top milk firm’ apparently offering as much as ‘£78,000-a-year’.
Meanwhile, one vegetable firm in Lincolnshire is currently advertising a broccoli picker role for £30-per-hour – equivalent to around £62,000-a-year.
