Oh dear. It appears that the UK’s little-loved eco-warriors have managed to cover themselves in glory yet again. Insulate Britain – the protest group surely working as double agents for Big Oil – have today decided to block off Parliament Square, causing yet more misery and frustration among commuters at rush hour.
Insulate Britain’s sole demand is that the government reduce emissions by insulating all social housing in the UK by 2025 and retrofit all homes with insulation by 2030. So it was somewhat unfortunate for Steerpike to discover that among the vehicles forced to sit there this morning pumping emissions into the atmosphere was none other than, er, a lorry for insulate giants CCF – the nationwide distributor of insulation and interior building products to the UK construction industry.
Insulation campaigners preventing an insulation truck from getting through? If irony was a source of energy, Insulate Britain could power the whole of the UK. Needless to say the Metropolitan Police reacted with their usual speed, deftness and aplomb by standing around, milling around and chatting as some 40 protesters carefully glued themselves to the road. Trebles all round.
Among the scenes witnessed by Steerpike’s man on the spot include no less than six policemen trying to cart away one protester while one of their colleagues tried to tell a by-stander caught up in the traffic to be quiet as he criticised the Insulate Britain mob for their actions. Priorities eh?
In the Commons meanwhile, poor old Lindsay Hoyle was forced to have another near-meltdown after Tory MP Darren Henry was unable to reach the chamber to ask his question due to being trapped in traffic, caused by the blockade. Hoyle, who has had a number of spats with the government in recent weeks, instead turned his fire on Insulate Britain, labelling it as ‘totally unacceptable, this is interfering with democracy.’
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