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. A Hertfordshire Police spokesman said: ‘Police were called at 7.45am today to reports of protestors near junction 23 of the M25. Officers are at the scene and working to resolve the disruption as quickly as possible. Several people have been arrested.’
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.’
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.
MANCHESTER – Protesters from Insulate Britain block a road near to the Holiday Inn Express Motorway Airport hotel today
BIRMINGHAM – Insulate Britain holding up traffic in Birmingham this morning as they bring chaos to the A4400 road
HERTFORDSHIRE – Police stop Insulate Britain blocking traffic on the M25 near junction 23 for South Mimms this morning
Insulate Britain block a road near Manchester Airport this morning as they take their demonstrations nationwide
Protesters from Insulate Britain sit on the road near the Holiday Inn Express Motorway Airport hotel in Manchester today
Protesters from Insulate Britain block the road near Manchester Airport today as they carry out a UK-wide demonstration
A protester with their hand glued to the road at an Insulate Britain roadblock near Manchester Airport this morning
Protesters from Insulate Britain block a road near Manchester Airport this morning as they cause chaos for motorists
A protester with their hand glued to the road at an Insulate Britain roadblock near Manchester Airport this morning
Protesters from Insulate Britain block a road near the Manchester Airport this morning as their demonstrations continue
A protester with their hand glued to the road at an Insulate Britain roadblock near Manchester Airport this morning
A protester with their hand glued to the road at an Insulate Britain roadblock near Manchester Airport this morning
A protester with their hand glued to the road at an Insulate Britain roadblock near Manchester Airport this morning
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.’
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.
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.
Police officers detain a protester at an Insulate Britain roadblock near to the South Mimms roundabout this morning
Police officers detain a protester at an Insulate Britain roadblock near the roundabout at the junction of the M25 and A1 today
Police officers speak to protesters at an Insulate Britain roadblock near to the South Mimms roundabout this morning
Protesters from Insulate Britain with their hands glued to the road near the South Mimms roundabout this morning
Police officers detain a protester at an Insulate Britain roadblock near to the South Mimms roundabout this morning
Police officers remove a protester glued to the road at an Insulate Britain roadblock near the South Mimms roundabout today
Police officers detain a protester at an Insulate Britain roadblock near to the South Mimms roundabout this morning
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.
Police officers take away a protester at an Insulate Britain roadblock attempt near the South Mimms services today
Reverend Sue Parfitt is arrested by a police officer at an Insulate Britain roadblock near the South Mimms roundabout today
Traffic builds up at an Insulate Britain roadblock near to the South Mimms roundabout at the junction of the M25 and A1 today
A protester glued to the road at an Insulate Britain roadblock on St Albans Road near to the South Mimms roundabout today
A police officer holds the jackets of two Insulate Britain protesters trying to carry out a roadblock at South Mimms today
Police officers speak to protesters at an Insulate Britain roadblock near to the South Mimms roundabout this morning
Police officers speak to protesters at an Insulate Britain roadblock near to the South Mimms roundabout this morning
An Insulate Britain protester is led away by police as they attempt to block traffic on the M25 near junction 23 today
A protester glued to the road at an Insulate Britain roadblock on St Albans Road near the South Mimms roundabout today
A protester glued to the road at an Insulate Britain roadblock on St Albans Road near the South Mimms roundabout today
Police officers remove a protester glued to the road at an Insulate Britain roadblock near the South Mimms roundabout today
A protester glued to the road at an Insulate Britain roadblock on St Albans Road near the South Mimms roundabout today
Police officers remove a protester glued to the road at an Insulate Britain roadblock near the South Mimms roundabout today
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.
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