UK High Court jails nine Insulate Britain activists
The UK’s High Court has jailed nine climate activists from the Insulate Britain group for breaching an injunction that sought to ban the group from blocking roads.
The protestors have been jailed from between three to six months.
The controversial environmental group, which seeks to properly insulate the UK’s homes in a bid to reduce CO2 emissions, have staged a number of protests which have drawn criticism from both politicians and the drivers they have blocked.
Protestor Ana Heyatawin, 58, and Louis McKechnie, 20 both received three month long sentences.
While James Thomas, 47, Benjamin Buse, 36, Emma Smart, 44, Oliver Rock, 41, Roman Paluch-Machnik, 28, and Tim Speers, 36, all received four months.
The longest sentence was given to Ben Taylor, 27, at six months.
Taylor yesterday told the High Court that he would do it again “at the earliest opportunity”, warning that protests would turn violent if their roadside action continued to be suppressed.
The government injunction put against them prohibited Insulate Britain from blocking traffic on the M25.
The activists have been trying to get the government to commit to providing insulation for 29m social-housing homes in the UK, in a bid to reduce the country’s emissions through the housing sector. As the world’s buildings produce around 40 per cent of global carbon emissions.
Insulate Britain said in a statement: “To the public we say, no one is coming to save you. In the past, when governments have failed to protect their people the right thing to do is to highlight this injustice, breaking the law if needed, this is what the suffragettes and Martin Luther King did and it is what Insulate Britain has done.
“We call on you to recognise that you also have a duty to act, as our government is betraying us. They can’t even act to insulate Britain. What hope do we have of them protecting our children, our economy or our country?”