Officers swoop on Insulate Britain activists before they get onto M25

954

View
comments

Insulate Britain activists spread their protests UK-wide today as 60 of the eco zealots tried to blockade motorways in Manchester, Birmingham and Hertfordshire during rush hour as their demonstrations entered an eighth week.

A team of 12 demonstrators stopped traffic on the M56 near Manchester Airport, while another group brought chaos to the A4400 in Birmingham – marking the first time Insulate Britain has targeted either city.

The environmental activists also hoped to blockade the M25 at junction 23 for the South Mimms service station in Hertfordshire, but police swooped on them before they could get onto the road and could cause mayhem. 

Van drivers were seen angrily remonstrating with the activists in Manchester, while in South Mimms a motorist went through a red light and narrowly missed two police officers escorting an eco protester out of the road. 

It comes as the eyes of the world are on Britain as representatives of 200 nations gather in Glasgow to thrash out a deal to try to limit global warming to 1.5C at the landmark Cop26 climate change conference. 

The protesters were on their 17th day of road demonstrations in more than seven weeks. Insulate Britain’s activists have brought chaos to motorways and A roads across the capital since September 13 with 161 people taking part in the campaign and 770 arrests made so far – but no one has yet been charged.

The activists were effectively banned from all major roads in England on Monday last week after a major High Court ruling, and a hearing was told just three days of their protests had an ‘economic cost’ of almost £900,000.  

But their protests have continued regardless – and over the weekend Swedish activist Greta Thunberg voiced support for their tactics, saying sometimes you have to ‘p*** people off’ to protect the environment. 

A Hertfordshire Police spokesman said: ‘Police were called at 7.45am today to reports of protesters near junction 23 (Bignells Corner) of the M25. Officers are at the scene and working to resolve the disruption as quickly as possible. Police also received reports of protesters near the A1081 St Albans Road at around 8.20am. Officers are on the scene and partial road closures have been put in place. Several people have been arrested.’ 

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: ‘I can’t see how this type of protest does anything other than alienate people from the climate cause. Have been reassured Greater Manchester Police are working to get things moving as soon as possible.’ 

And a Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: ‘We’re currently responding to a protest on Wilmslow Road (A538), close to Manchester Airport. We’re working at the scene to minimise disruption and we’ll provide updates in due course. Delays are expected and we ask people travelling to avoid the area if possible.’ 

A Manchester Airport spokesman added: ‘We are aware of protestors gathered on land close to Manchester Airport, which is being handled by Greater Manchester Police. There is no impact on our operations but those planning to travel to the airport should take account of this ahead of their journey.’ 

The 18-year-old was asked on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday whether ‘blocking roads’ was justified, and replied: ‘To make clear, as long as no one gets hurt… then I think sometimes you need to anger some people.

‘Like, for instance, the school strike movement would never have become so big if there wasn’t friction, if some people didn’t get p***** off.’

She said she speaks to activists in countries like China where they do not have the same rights, and added: ‘It makes you just feel so grateful that we are actually able to protest and that just puts more responsibility on us who actually have the right to protest, to use that right.’ 

Around 20 demonstrators arrived at the M25 but were stopped by police from getting into the road at about 8am.

Six sat on the pavement with a banner, and some glued themselves to the ground.

Another two managed to glue themselves to one lane of the carriageway on a quiet part of the roundabout.

A group of officers have been lifting activists from the pavement and putting them in the back of a van.

Reverend Sue Parfitt, 79, a retired family therapist from Bristol, was among those detained.

More than a dozen officers and seven police vehicles were at the scene.

Some passers-by shouted expletives at the protesters while other beeped their horns.

Jess, 25, who had glued her hand to the road, said: ‘Before we started doing this no-one was talking about insulation, nobody cared about it, nobody knew it was an issue now, and it’s been in the newspapers and it’s been all over people’s dinner table conversations for the last six weeks.

‘They say ‘we agree with your cause but not the tactics’, but at the end of the day they only know about our cause because of our tactics.’

Nine demonstrators have received committal papers in relation to an injunction granted to National Highways to curb activist roadblocks, Insulate Britain confirmed.

Those who break the injunctions could be found in contempt of court and face a maximum penalty of two years in prison or an unlimited fine.

Diana Warner, 62, a retired GP, said: ‘One of the important reasons for coming out today was to say we’re all together. It’s not just nine.’

In a press release issued today, Insulate Britain quoted two protesters explaining why the demonstrations were now going nationwide.

One of them was Gabby, 27, a graphic designer from Norwich, who said: ‘We are taking our message to people outside of London because we want everyone to know that our government is killing our children.

‘Britain should be leading the world with radical plans to decarbonise our society, instead our government is actively setting policies that will drive emissions higher.

‘The public can close their eyes but this isn’t going away, no one is coming to save you. We are being betrayed. This government is colluding in genocide.’

The group said nine of its supporters have received summons for breaking the injunction and are due to attend court on November 16, with a further 23 people expected to follow. It said they face unlimited fines and prison sentences for contempt of court.

The group also quoted Biff, 54, a retail worker from Canterbury, who said: ‘I am honoured and privileged to stand in solidarity with my brave friends who have been the first to receive their committal dates; facing unlimited fines and prison sentences for conducting proportionate nonviolent civil resistance to stop our government destroying this country with their cowardice and greed.

‘I too have broken the High Court Injunctions several times and I will continue to do so until this treasonous government, supported by heartless and scared journalists, starts to take credible action to safeguard its citizens’ lives.’

Last Friday, Insulate Britain caused yet more traffic chaos and diced with death by walking onto the M25 in morning rush hour. They later boasted about causing ‘major disruption in several locations’ on the motorway. 

A group of 14 walked up and down the painted white lines between lanes in live traffic, causing tailbacks. At one point, three sat and laid down in the middle of the carriageway, bringing traffic grinding to a halt.

In a press release the group said activists had gone ‘walking on the motorway’ and were ‘demanding that the Government gets on with the job of insulating Britain’s homes’. Ten arrests were made after the stunt, between junctions 28 and 29 near Brentwood in Essex. 

The group acknowledged it is knowingly breaching a High Court injunction that aims to prevent its disruptive activities. The activists were effectively banned from all major roads in England last week after a court ruling approved an injunction against protests on 4,300 miles of motorways and A-roads, also known as the Strategic Road Network.

This was extended until November 11 at another hearing on Thursday. Breaking the injunction can lead to unlimited fines or even jail for contempt of court.

The High Court was told on Thursday how just three days of protests had cost taxpayers almost £900,000. 

The group, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, has demanded that Prime Minister Boris Johnson fast-tracks plans to insulate Britain’s homes to cut carbon emissions.  

It wants this done by the end of the decade, with a ‘legally binding’ national plan published within four months. They claim it would avoid 8,500 deaths due to fuel poverty and help struggling families pay their energy bills. 

Insulate Britain also hit out at criticism of the group by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, with a spokesman saying: ‘Insulating Britain’s leaky homes is an essential part of acting on the climate emergency.

‘In fact the UK Climate Change Committee has said that there is no route to Net Zero that does not involve the near complete elimination of carbon emissions from our housing stock which is some of the most energy inefficient in Europe.

‘Insulate Britain has a well thought out plan for a government funded nationwide retrofit programme. Kwasi Kwarteng is rejecting a plan that would cut 15 per cent from our carbon emissions, avoid 8,500 fuel poverty deaths a year, and stop millions of British families being cold and hungry every year, while dealing with the cost of living crisis.

‘Mr Kwarteng, is it ‘ludicrous’ to demand an end to deaths from fuel poverty in the sixth richest country in the world? Is giving government grants for home insulation an ‘excessive state intervention’? Is protecting our children from future misery, starvation and death an ‘eye watering intrusion’? If so, we are guilty as charged.

‘Mr Kwarteng, you have a responsibility to serve the interests of all the people of this country, not just the few who are profiting from your careless disregard for the fate of our children and future generations. We will not forgive your betrayal and cowardice.’

Cabinet minister George Eustice has condemned the eco mob’s actions as ‘highly irresponsible’, ‘a safety risk on our roads’ and said Home Secretary Priti Patel was looking at beefing-up the law to give police more powers to tackle the protesters. 

Last week the Daily Mail revealed that eco warriors are plotting to exploit gaps in Scottish law to wreak havoc at the Cop26 summit.

Around 400 climate activists sized up potential loopholes during a meeting promoted by Extinction Rebellion (XR) last week.

Conspirators noted a recent High Court injunction banning road blockades does not apply in Scotland – and that officers will be ‘overwhelmed’ by the scale of the protests.

It was also hinted protesters with charges against their name in England may get a blank canvas across the border as forces ‘don’t always communicate to each other’.

It comes amid growing alarm among rank-and-file officers about the potential for chaos as police brace for the ‘most complex and complicated policing operation ever seen in Britain’. 

Hundreds of thousands of protesters from around the world are expected to descend on the two-week summit. XR’s Scottish spokesman Myke Hall has said ministers should be ‘very worried’ about their plans to disrupt the event.

Top brass in Scotland have warned Cop26 could prove a magnet for anarchists and believe some extremists could use children as human shields during violent standoffs, a tactic seen during the storming of the Capitol in the US in January. 

At the start of the two-hour protest meeting last Tuesday, attendees were asked ‘not to say anything specific about actions that you have been involved with, or are planning’, due to fears of infiltration within the group. 

But during an extensive Q&A session, rebels probed potential weaknesses in the police and criminal justice system that hinted at plots to blockade roads and outwit officers.

Know Your Rights Training was provided by the Scottish Community and Activist Legal Project, which is providing legal support to XR during Cop26. 

Representatives fielded a series of searching questions including whether an injunction against road blockades aimed at curbing Insulate Britain protests in England applied in Scotland and if protest-related charges in England would be passed on to Police Scotland.

A spokesman said the injunction did not apply in Scotland, while it was also suggested police will only make arrests ‘if they need to’ for fear of being ‘overwhelmed’.

John Scott QC, an adviser to Police Scotland on Cop26, told the Mail ‘there is a very different tone and style’ to policing in Scotland, ‘with an emphasis on encouraging peaceful protest’.

But there are fears protesters who break the law could go free as a shortage of cells could force police to let some off with warnings.

One demonstration on November 6 is expected to attract more than 150,000 protesters and smaller groups such as Insulate Britain are expected to take part in acts of disorder, which could result in a significant number of arrests.