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Insulate Britain admits that its road-blocking protests across the UK ‘failed’

The environmental campaigners famously brought traffic to a standstill by blocking the M56 near Manchester Airport last November.

Emily Sergeant - 7th February 2022

Insulate Britain has admitted that its series of road-blocking protests across the UK “failed”, but has warned that its next demonstrations will be “more ambitious”.

The environmental campaigners – who famously infuriated motorists last November by repeatedly bringing traffic to a standstill on some of the country’s busiest roads, including on the M56 near Manchester Airport – has issued a strongly-worded statement today, and has insisted that “we’re just getting started”.

Previous demonstrations have seen activists from the group – which is calling for better insulation in UK homes – glue themselves to roads to block traffic, have ink thrown on them, be dragged off roads by angry members of the public, and spark furious reactions from drivers caught up in the disruption.

Announcing in a statement posted to its website and shared on social media today, Insulate Britain said it “must acknowledge we have failed”.

“We failed to move our irresponsible government to take meaningful action to prevent thousands of us from dying in our cold homes during the energy price crisis,” the group admitted.

“We have failed to make this heartless government put its people over profit and insulate our homes to do our part in lowering the UK’s emissions, we have failed to encourage our government to get up from their drinks parties, go to their desk and get on with the job, and we failed in getting enough of you to join us on the roads to hold this treasonous and corrupt government to account.”

Read more: Insulate Britain protesters ‘glued to the floor’ block M56 near Manchester Airport

Insulate Britain said it would continue its “campaign of civil resistance because we only have the next two to three years to sort it out and prevent us completely failing our children”.

It continued it its statement: “Now we must accept that we have lost another year, so our next campaign of civil resistance against the betrayal of this country must be even more ambitious, and more of us must take a stand.

“More of you need to join us. We don’t get to be bystanders. We either act against evil or we participate in it.

“We haven’t gone away. We’re just getting started.”

The group has claimed it will be “off the roads” if the government meets its two demands to help tackle the climate crisis.

The first demand is that ministers must “immediately promise to fully fund and take responsibility for the insulation of all social housing in Britain by 2025”, and the second is that the government must promise to produce a “legally-binding national plan” within four months to fund the full insulation retrofit of all homes in Britain by 2030.

Featured Image – Twitter (@InsulateLove)