Insulate Britain vows to resume blocking roads from today despite risk of jail
Protest group says ‘there are things happening’ to target morning rush-hour traffic
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Your support makes all the difference.Insulate Britain protesters have vowed to restart road-blocking protests today despite the risk of members being jailed or fined for causing traffic chaos.
The climate group, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion which has been blocking the M25 and other major roads, said the pause to its “campaign of civil resistance” runs out on 25 October.
A spokesman said that “there are things happening” to target Monday morning’s rush-hour, but would not give further details of what action would be happening and where.
Angry drivers have been filmed confronting the protesters in recent weeks and attempting to drag them away from the roads.
Insulate Britain wants the government to insulate all UK homes by 2030 to cut carbon emissions.
It has blocked roads on 14 days over the five weeks to 14 October, with activists often glueing their hands to the carriageway to increase the length of time it takes for police to remove them.
Hundreds of arrests were made, with some people detained several times.
Metropolitan Police said it has an appropriate policing plan in place and will respond accordingly to any new protests.
Injunctions have been imposed on the protesters in an effort to stop the disruption and activists who have broken the legal order are now facing court summons along with and possible imprisonment or an unlimited fine, National Highways said.
An Insulate Britain spokesman said: “I don’t know why they have decided to use court injunctions. Injunctions change nothing.
“We will be back to continue until the Government give us a meaningful statement that we can trust and then we will be off the roads immediately, other than that the injunctions or the threats of prison don’t anything.”
On the prospect that the disruptive protests are losing public support, the campaign spokesman said: “It is becoming a binary decision whether people are resisting the facilitation of the destruction of their country, their families, their communities and everything they hold dear or whether they are going to go into resistance against it.
“What we are saying now is that the public need to join us on the roads because the Government are basically committing treason.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “Insulate Britain’s actions are dangerous and disruptive, and we urge them to call off their reckless campaign for good.
“National Highways is now taking the first group of activists from Insulate Britain to court, for breaching injunctions by blocking the M25.
“We will continue working with the police to bring those who carried out dangerous and disruptive action to justice.
“Those activists will now receive a court summons and could face imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.
“Timings are now in the hands of the court but we expect hearings will take place as soon as possible.”
Additional reporting by PA
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