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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Neil Lancefield, PA & Max Channon

M25 blocked again by Insulate Britain's 'glued fools'

Protesters from Insulate Britain have been blocked a junction of the M25 motorway and a major road in central London.

The climate activists said about 40 demonstrators are sitting on the road at junction 25 of the M25 at Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, and on the A501 at Old Street roundabout.

The protests caused long queues of rush hour traffic on Friday morning.

A video posted on social media by radio station LBC shows protesters running in front of a police van at the M25 junction.

Officers then drag some of the activists off the road.

This is the 12th day in the past four weeks that the group has carried out protests on roads.

Insulate Britain admitted its actions on the M25 are “in breach” of an injunction obtained by the Government last month.

Tracey Mallagan, a spokeswoman for the group, which is calling on the Government to insulate all UK homes by 2030 to cut carbon emissions, said: “If governments don’t act soon to reduce emissions, we face a terrifying situation.

“We won’t be worrying about shortages of pasta or loo rolls because law and order breaks down pretty quickly when there is not enough food to go round.

“The Government won’t be wondering if there are enough hospital beds or ventilators, but whether there are enough people left to bury the dead.

“The Government is destroying our country. Boris Johnson should be taken to court for treason. Our flesh and blood are being tossed aside as expendable.”

However, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps branded members of Insulate Britain “glued fools” and said they are “absolutely wrong” to launch fresh demonstrations.

He told LBC: “It’s dangerous, it’s really outrageous, and actually, ironically, it probably adds to pollution as cars idle, waiting for their nonsense… for them to be unglued from the road.”

He said: “Existing laws need toughening up to get these glued fools off the road, and the Home Secretary has said she will do that in the Crime and Sentencing Policing Bill that is going through Parliament.

“In the meantime, I have been applying actively for court injunctions, which cover the national highway network around London, around the South East. Now these people can go to jail for what they’re doing.

“I very much imagine that the courts will take very dimly of the view that they’re ignoring a court injunction. It can be unlimited fines, it can be six months in jail, we have been actively serving door-to-door individuals – over 100 have been served. And I think we’ll start to see the courts take a very, very dim view and lock some of these people up, it is unacceptable.”

He added: “I can tell you that those injunctions may well have been breached and people may be going to prison as a result.”

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