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.
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“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.”
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.
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“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)
News
Wigan Warriors make history after yet another Super League Grand Final victory
Danny Jones
Wigan Warriors have made Super League history after winning yet another Grand Final following what can only be dubbed a spellbinding season.
Beating Hull Kingston Rovers 9-2 in what was their 13th Grand Final, not only have they now lifted the trophy for the seventh time but they have also become the first team in the Super League era to win the hallowed quadruple.
To make things even more special, the landmark evening in Manchester saw them match the same achievement of winning all four major pieces of silverware 30 years on from their famous Wigan predecessors in 1994, and are one of just a handful of teams to ever do so.
Matt Peet’s side signed off on an incredible year after winning not only the Challenge Cup and World Cup Challenge but by lifting the League Leaders’ Shield and retaining their Grand Final.
Star-man Bevan French put them ahead in the game before Harry Smith gave them breathing room before half-time and despite Hull KR answering back with a penalty in their first-ever visit to the final, Adam Keighran’s kick helped make sure the Warriors made it over the line.
That’s a couple of Challenge Cups, two lots of League Leaders’ Shields, a World Cup Challenge and a pair of successive Super League Grand Final wins in just 99 games over eight months as head coach for Peet too. Generational.
While the likes of Bradford and St Helens have won all four prizes up for grabs over the course of two seasons, a record like this is simply sensational and well and truly puts them up there as one of if not the greatest rugby league side ever – as if they weren’t in the conversation already.
You can see how much it meant when they lifted the trophy:
Things look to be only getting better for the Cherry and Whites under the Wigan local and they seem to be more fitting of their Warriors title under his watch than arguably ever.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, winner of the inaugural Rob Burrow Player of the Match award French said: “It’s been an emotional week. We knew history was on the line, with the chance to be the first to win all four in a calendar year.
“This one just meant more. The club went above and beyond to surprise me by flying my brother and uncle over, so this is special. I might not ever get to feel like this again. I’ve got to take it all in.”
Winning the quadruple in the modern era doesn’t just beckon Wigan Warriors into the history books, it could signal the start of a new period of dominance as was seen in the 1980s and 90s. Are the Saints about to make way for a new Northern super-power?
You can watch the highlights from the 2024 Betfred Super League Grand Final and see how Wigan completed the quadruple down below.
— Barefoot Spooky Bartender 👣💀🍹 (@barefoottiki) October 10, 2024
“Be assured there won’t be 14408mph winds, hurricane force winds or overnight temperatures of 404°C.
“It is being looked at and hopefully sorted asap.”
BBC Weather shared: “You may have noticed some data issues on our app and website. We are working hard to fix it quickly. Sorry – please bear with us.
“In the meantime here are Thursday’s weather headlines: -Colder, clearer air moving in -Rain and drizzle in south -Blustery showers near east coast”
And national treasure Carol Kirkwood said live on air: “We are having a technical glitch at the moment. It’s showing wind speeds far too fast, in fact, hurricane strength and that is not the case at all.
“Please don’t be alarmed. We are aware of it and on it.”
At the time of writing, the BBC Weather forecast service is still predicting hurricane force winds for the UK. Eek.