'I agree with M25 protesters but would've been just as angry as drivers stuck for hours'

I sympathised with them – then groaned at them.

I completely see the point that the M25 eco-protesters are trying to make - but I’d have been just as angry as those motorists stuck for hours in that traffic, bumper to bumper, over the past week.

The activists are demanding the Government insulate all homes by 2025, starting with social housing.

We all know about the climate emergency the country, indeed the world, is facing.

Concerns have been flagged up around the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow being a “rich nations stitch-up” with many delegates from the global south unable to attend due to vaccine inequity and prohibitive ­quarantine costs.

The activists are demanding the Government insulate all homes by 2025, starting with social housing (PA)

The Mirror devoted a special edition last week to our ongoing campaign, Vanishing UK, highlighting the threat to the country unless we act now.

That action, however, does not include blocking major roads during rush hour and preventing thousands of people simply wanting to get to work from earning a living.

How does that win the support from the wider public? How does that gain the momentum we need to inspire more converts and pile the pressure on the people with the power?

Mirror columnist Darren Lewis (Phil Harris / Daily Mirror)

And why are the protesters not taking their campaign directly to the politicians – the ones who can actually change things?

Why continue to hurt ­ordinary people?

The tale of the mum left paralysed from a stroke after eco-protesters blocked the M25, delaying her son as he rushed her to hospital, broke my heart last week.

The woman’s son revealed afterwards she is now paralysed down her left side after he was left stuck in standstill traffic for six hours.

There’ll be more such stories of pain and potential tragedy, none of it justifiable collateral damage despite the ­importance of the cause.

We are all working hard to increase awareness of the fact we are facing a code red for the environment. It matters to us and our children, not just the disruptors in high-vis jackets on Junction 1A of the London Orbital.

Police have been impressively proactive in heading them off at the pass on some occasions over the past week but it is rapidly becoming a game of cat and mouse between the two parties.

It is no laughing matter for the­ motorists inconvenienced during peak times. You just hope none of them take matters into their own hands. Our fight is with the power brokers – not each other.