Eco protesters caused mayhem on the M25 by blockading it yet again this morning – the eighth day they have disrupted the motorway in the past two-and-a-half weeks.
Activists from the Insulate Britain group targeted junction 30 near Thurrock in Essex from about 8am this morning as they continued to deft a High Court injunction.
It meant hundreds of drivers were once again caught in huge tailbacks, while already contending with the fuel supply crisis which has led to panic buying of petrol.
The protest came one day after Insulate Britain targeted the Swanley interchange in Kent at junction three twice yesterday – blocking it at 7.40am and then again at 1pm.
The protesters were banned last week from ‘blocking, endangering, slowing down, preventing, or obstructing the free flow of traffic onto or along or off the M25’.
Breaches of the injunction are punishable by up to two years in jail or an unlimited fine, and the Government insisted that action is being taken against the protesters.
Yesterday: Insulate Britain activists block the road near junction three of the M25 near Swanley
A Government spokesman said: ‘We are already knocking on doors and serving papers to offenders who will be sent to court and could face fines or prison.
‘Police continue making arrests and are working closely with National Highways to shut down these illegal demonstrations and keep the public safe.’
Authorities hoped the High Court injunction would act as a deterrent but many of the activists say they would be happy to go to prison for their beliefs.
Bosses at National Highways said they were ‘working with the police to establish names of the protestors and if they have been previously arrested’.
But Lee Anderson, the Conservative MP for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, urged National Highways to ‘get a grip’ and seek action against any activists who breach the injunction.
He said: ‘They have been given the tools they need and need to get on with the job and sort these people out. They need to get a grip and go to court so the full force of the law can be delivered.
‘These hypocritical activists are being allowed to cause mayhem – and it wouldn’t be permitted in any other country in Europe.’
Mr Anderson dubbed the protesters ‘morons’ in a Commons debate last week and said they should be ‘carted off in an electric police van and locked up in a fully insulated cell’.
Hugh Bladon, from Alliance of British Drivers, commented: ‘There is no point in having this injunction if we are not going to pursue people who are breaking it; that is the rule of law – they have the injunction so they should bl**dy well use it and get these people off the roads. The protestors are making a mockery of the justice system of this country.’
The High Court is also able to investigate breaches of injunctions ‘on its own initiative’, meaning that a judge could potentially haul in the protestors to court himself.
Home Secretary Priti Patel and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps met officials yesterday to discuss ‘ramping up’ the response, according to a Whitehall source.
The source said: ‘Ministers recognised that the British public are getting increasingly angry at the dangerous and thoughtless behaviour of a selfish minority intent on repeatedly causing disruption on major roads. It is a sentiment they share.’
Ms Patel is understood to want ‘swift’ action. Options could include further injunctions or other types of powers.
The terms of the current injunction could also be changed so it does not have to be served on each activist individually, it is understood.
A Government source said: ‘The contemptible antics of Insulate Britain are no laughing matter for the law-abiding majority whose daily lives are being impacted by their obstructive behaviour.
‘Across government we are working through the legal and legislative avenues available to ensure that these nonsensical demonstrations can be halted and the judgements of our courts respected.
‘Legal, peaceful demonstrations remain a cornerstone of our democracy, but occupying motorways and major roads, putting lives at risk and causing untold harm, is totally unacceptable.
‘The public expect us to ensure that the authorities have the necessary powers to clamp down on these protests and we will.’
An Insulate Britain spokesman said: ‘We are going nowhere. You can raid our savings. You can confiscate our property. You can deny us our liberty and put us behind bars.
‘But shooting the messenger can never destroy the message: that this country is going to hell unless you take emergency action to stop putting carbon into the air.’
The group, which wants better home insulation to save energy, began targeting the M25 on September 13.
Activists yesterday welcomed a pledge by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to insulate every home that needs it in Britain over the next decade.
One woman glued to the road said: ‘That’s excellent news. Let’s get the Labour Party in. It would cut UK emissions by 15 per cent, it’s the easiest thing to do.’
Another woman added: ‘When will the Conservatives do the same thing?’
Lisa Townsend, Surrey’s Police and Crime Commissioner, said police forces felt let down by the response to the problem from other parts of the justice system.
Forces have responded more quickly to the protests in recent days, using more force to push them back to roadsides and often reopening affected roads within the hour.
But she said: ‘It has been very difficult for the police because if they charge the protesters with a relatively minor offence, it is likely to be discontinued.
‘If they try to elevate the charge to a more serious one, they are finding it is not reaching the necessary threshold.
‘The public deserves to see a response from all parts of the criminal justice system and it is unfair for the police to be blamed if people do not end up before the courts.’