‘Insulate Britain’ blocking motorways.

[Chillidoggy]

1 hour ago, C8RKH said:

And on cue, I read this.  I do hope this does not get ugly.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/13/drivers-threaten-insulate-britain-activists-in-essex-protests

 

I'd be the first one out of my car and dragging the ignorant bell-ends out of my way. My wife would be the second.

[Sparky]

Surely it's simple to assemble a QRF within 30 minutes or so of these pricks kicking off?  If 20 of them turn up, you just need 40 'concerned citizens' to keep them off the road.  I'm available...

[pete]

@C8RKHno need for handcuffs , just super glue them to the side of the road

[exeterjeep]

6 minutes ago, pete said:

@C8RKHno need for handcuffs , just super glue them to the side of the road

Handcuff them round streetlights/roadsigns for a few hours, no food, no drink, no loos....perhaps make that a few days.....

[windymiller]

so heres the thing, given the laws have been changed to enable prosecution, why has there been no prosecutions ?? and so methinks the government wants to appear to be green and not to loose green / blue voters but what about the rule of law ? 🙄   

[C8RKH]

45 minutes ago, windymiller said:

so heres the thing, given the laws have been changed to enable prosecution, why has there been no prosecutions ?? and so methinks the government wants to appear to be green and not to loose green / blue voters but what about the rule of law ? 🙄   

I don't think the government gives a shit about "appearing" green or to lose their votes. Very few "greens" would ever vote Blue in my experience.

[Barrykearley]

50 minutes ago, windymiller said:

so heres the thing, given the laws have been changed to enable prosecution, why has there been no prosecutions ?? and so methinks the government wants to appear to be green and not to loose green / blue voters but what about the rule of law ? 🙄   

Well - there was no shortage of the lack of prosecution of certain groups in relation to sexual abuse. The police and politicians sure can be picky about who to persue when they feel like it.

don’t even start me on Jimmy Saville and the bbc.

[RobinB5]

Where's the un-insulate Britain activists who might turn up promptly, glue all of the insulate Britain protesters together and handcuff them to the nearest pole?

There are so many issues affecting our country, insulation is pretty far down the list. If they want to be climate change activists then lead by example. 

[C8RKH]

PaP's -Protesting against Protesters

GaP - Glue all Protesters

CaP - Cuff all Protesters

Any more? Surely one of these acronyms will spawn a following.

 

 

 

 

[Sparky]

FAP?  Ah, maybe not...

[Alfa2Evora]

On 13/10/2021 at 15:03, mdw said:

........The police arrest them, they go before the courts and are back at it again 24hours later.......

This one has been arrested several times and doesn't even get interviewed before being 'released without charge' to go straight back and (in her words) "unleash hell" on drivers, .

https://unredacted.co.uk/2021/10/12/insulate-britain-protestor-is-married-to-170000-a-year-tfl-boss/

Considering her husband's position (from which he has just resigned as it happens) you have to wonder if old 'Sadsac' had any influence on her multiple releases, .

[Chillidoggy]

2 hours ago, Alfa2Evora said:

This one has been arrested several times and doesn't even get interviewed before being 'released without charge' to go straight back and (in her words) "unleash hell" on drivers, .

https://unredacted.co.uk/2021/10/12/insulate-britain-protestor-is-married-to-170000-a-year-tfl-boss/

Considering her husband's position (from which he has just resigned as it happens) you have to wonder if old 'Sadsac' had any influence on her multiple releases, .

Wash your mouth out for even suggesting such a thing.

[Chillidoggy]

One hasn't got to dig too far before one finds the usual hypocrisy.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/16425034/eco-protester-81000-mile-trip-18-year-old-4x4/

 

[Kimbers]

The cynic in me thinks that they are suspending things for 10 days because they were all about to get a kicking or worse. I am surprised someone hasn't run any of them over yet! 

[comem47]

Nexttime a blockade occurs have a spray foam truck show up. Zip tie their hands to gether and foam them like a mummy. They get their wish and are thoroughly insulated !!!   Now they can be easliy stacked  on a flatbed and hauled away.  😜

[basalte]

Needless to say, the "swat `em away like flies" advocates are out in force over this one. Only they`re not flies, they`re human beings who thoroughly deserve to be treated as such in what we call a liberal democracy (fair enough if you don`t want a liberal democracy I suppose..but that`s another argument).

They will also have numerous relatives who (history has repeatedly shown) are start being out for revenge if you deploy violence ; and so the cycle (no pun intended) of violent recrimination begins.

Because most on either side cannot control their emotions in favour of seeing a bigger picture where emotions are a positive hindrance. Anger at failures to insulate homes ? Anger because some smug middle class quasi-hippy has stopped you earning your daily crust ?

And....In the vile canon of human atrocity , blocking cars on a motorway comes very, very far down the list.

Sorry if you think that`s a radical extremist lefty view. Trying to see both sides here that`s all. 

Talking of seeing the bigger picture, over the years I`ve met a few of the types who block the M25.I wasn`t impressed-relentless sanctimoniousness was and appears to remain,  their key characteristic. "Why can`t you see things MY way, cretin ? I am here to save your life, ungrateful peasant ! " A very common stance in political argument of course but not a personal trait likely to win many over to your cause .

Blocking people trying to get to work is crass self-indulgence. Also needless to say, it has fed into the authoritarian Government agenda to stifle all legitimate protest - whatever the issue. 

Bur what is the actual issue here ? To insulate homes . Not exactly forcing you all to live in yurts , eat lentils and ride penny-farthings. To commit to insulating homes. That is an entirely fair and reasonable demand if you accept (as the Government say they accept ) that  there is an environmental crisis. It needs a fair hearing and sadly the sanctimonious actions of the emotionally-charged, are not the way to achieve it. Maybe direct protect at the decsion -makers and not daily drivers ?

I would strongly argue that seeing "the bigger picture " applies to both sides. Blocking traffic is counterproductive and just encourages cheap outrage fanned by the gutter press. To make it all about law and order and not about the whys and wherefores of insulating homes, is equally crass. 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Domestic Insulation Matters.

#DIM

[basalte]

Finland`s Insulation Triumphs

#FIT

[C8RKH]

9 hours ago, basalte said:

To make it all about law and order and not about the whys and wherefores of insulating homes, is equally crass. 

There is nothing stopping these people from insulating their own homes. For those who cannot afford to, there are grants and monies available from Government, Local Authority, and yes, Energy Companies.  But then you knew that I suspect:

Green Home Insulation Grants

Free Home Insulation Grants from the devolved parliaments

Energy Efficiency Home Improvement Grants from the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) Scheme

The above are to name a few.

So feel free to spout your liberal comments, it's your right and I for one will respect your viewpoint.  However, is this really about insulating homes?  If so, just look at the profiles of the people arrested? For christ sake, even one of the so called "leaders" was forced to admit that he had not insulated his own home. Another was married to the Head of Transport (or similar), etc.  My viewpoint, which I know you will give me the courtesy of respecting, is that this is yet another woke, middle class, campaign undertaken by people with an agenda OTHER than the insulating of homes. You only have to look at the protestors to see they are middle class of a certain age.  Hey ho. It's everyone's right to protest and does not harm.  That being the case where do you stand on the ambulances that were blocked? The people with medical emergencies who got blocked from treatment?  They were done no harm where they? What about their rights to not be pissed about whilst just trying to get on with their lives?

 

[Colin P]

20 hours ago, basalte said:

Needless to say, the "swat `em away like flies" advocates are out in force over this one. Only they`re not flies, they`re human beings who thoroughly deserve to be treated as such in what we call a liberal democracy (fair enough if you don`t want a liberal democracy I suppose..but that`s another argument).

They will also have numerous relatives who (history has repeatedly shown) are start being out for revenge if you deploy violence ; and so the cycle (no pun intended) of violent recrimination begins. 

I don't think that there is a serious comment on here about harming these protesters, just people venting "solutions" in a tongue in cheek way, which unlike with the arseholes doing the protesting, clearly isn't going to happen.

They deserve to be treated no better than they are treating the general populous. So if they sit in the middle of the road then they are asking to be dragged out of the way and kept out of the way by the use of reasonable force. They are causing the issue, they cannot be immune from any consequences or from action to prevent them from doing it.

I'm afraid your post reads very much like "you must tolerate everything that those who consider themselves to have a higher cause decide to do but you cannot say anything against it, or take action because that would be politically incorrect". This is the attitude that is driving people to extreme political views. It is driving division rather than creating unity.

I once summed it up to an "overly politically correct" colleague, who would not tolerate any contrary views other than the most tolerant of even the most intolerable elements of society. In other words, if you are part of an identifiable minority you can do what the hell you like and no-one can criticise you for it because that would be prejudice. My comment, "You are the most intolerant tolerant person I've ever met". 

[C8RKH]

50 minutes ago, Colin P said:

I don't think that there is a serious comment on here about harming these protesters, just people venting "solutions" in a tongue in cheek way, which unlike with the arseholes doing the protesting, clearly isn't going to happen.

You're right Colin and @basalte, I suspect, knew that, he just wanted to rant. Which is OK, I, of all people, can relate to that.

@basalte - would love to hear from you as to why you think disrupting peoples lives (and putting other peoples lives at risk) is acceptable, especially on this subject?  Also, why it is acceptable to protest in this way, rather than a peaceful, roadside demonstration, that would allow them to make their point WITHOUT putting themselves, or anyone else, in harms way or at serious inconvenience to their lives.  We live in a Democracy, and that means we can vent our views safely, but it DOES NOT give entitled tw@ts the right to disrupt innocent people going about their day to day life without fear, alarm or unnecessary disruption.  Over to you bud. 

[Kimbers]

21 hours ago, basalte said:

Because most on either side cannot control their emotions in favour of seeing a bigger picture where emotions are a positive hindrance. Anger at failures to insulate homes ? Anger because some smug middle class quasi-hippy has stopped you earning your daily crust ?

And....In the vile canon of human atrocity , blocking cars on a motorway comes very, very far down the list.

My Comment @basalte Dan was purely based on what I had seen. Initially the "Protesters" were put up with, many people even laughing at them. But as time has gone on there has been a change in the atmosphere at these protests especially as they block the same route and catch the same people again and again. My comment was serious. It had escalated to where some of the protesters were at risk of violence or even worse just being driven over. 

There is no doubt that legitimate protest and freedom of speech should be protected in the country. 100% and every Police Officer would agree with you. However these Protesters were actually doing more harm than good. Your normal everyday person has actually been turned off their message because of their methods. There has been several revelations about the people protesting which has made people laugh at them (One has done a 4x4 trip round the world recently, one is rich etc) . Look how many Police are needed even before the law was changed to allow Police to remove them quickly. Think of the amount of Police taken from frontline duties to attend these incidents, then process them in Custody, then do paperwork...... 

They have said their "Legitimate protests" were ignored and they couldn't get their message out. Well there's always reasons for this.  There are about 200 of them. As minority views go that's pretty minor! Their message is too focussed on one thing and even legitimate climate protesters say they need to look at a bigger picture. Yes we all know insulation is important and should be included as part of a climate change plan, but it it is not a subject to focus on entirely! What maybe they should protest is the poor state and quality of new build houses in terms of their insulation. 

Lastly mate, your comment I know is in good faith but "Earning you your daily crust" is very much what some were doing before getting caught up in the protests, they weren't all middle class business people like me, just going to an appointment (Yes twice I've been caught). They have been Affecting people who couldn't afford to get affected. People who are living hand to mouth. Businesses struggling because they still haven't got over the effects of COVID, people trying to get to loved ones in hospital to say goodbye, people with medical emergencies and people who had legitimate and important reasons to get where they were going in time. 

I do re-iterate my comment above. I suspect the reason they have stopped for the moment is that public opinion had turned from Sympathy, to exasperation to anger and someone was likely to get hurt.  

[basalte]

Points taken Tony; indeed many you make paraphrase my own. It might be added that sitting down in the middle of a motorway also deprives those doing it of a normal day "earning a crust" - some are able to cope with that more than others of course, but it would be sheer prejudice here to accuse them of doing it somehow for fun or "because they can". It is genuinely difficult accommodating the right to protest with the (usually inevitable ) disruption this causes, and as we know, many regimes don`t bother to even try. The problem is that the form of protest chosen in this instance seems ill-advised and ill-chosen from a purely "will it work?" point of view. 

If I were Home Secretary ( and you or I could both do a better job than the present incumbent), I would warn them off further protest of that type but (crucially) would not make a mountain out of a molehill and seek to (cackhandedly at that-Police rightly have no confidence in Patel  ! ) stifle all freedom to protest.  

[C8RKH]

7 minutes ago, basalte said:

stifle all freedom to protest.  

Is this really what is happening? That all freedom to protest is being stifled?  It's this sort of talk that just gets me ranting as it is just not true. As I said above. There would be no problem with their peaceful protest if they allowed everyone else to get on with their lives. As they refuse to respect their fellow human beings rights not to have their lawful lives disrupted they are seeing their "chosen" form of protest being stifled.  Let's "All" be really careful with the words we use shall we? North Korea, Russia, China or Hong Kong et al the UK is not, despite what some people like to peddle.

@Kimbers raises a good point re the waste of Police Resources and time that these protestors have caused. Again, they will probably be the first to complain when they need the Police and they can't respond!

This is the level of intellect these tw@ts leader has. Defend away.

The head of Insulate Britain has called himself a "hypocrite" - adding he "doesn’t care" about insulating homes.

Liam Norton is behind the series of road-block protests in recent weeks. One of the main objectives of the protests is calling on the government to insulate all social housing by 2025 - therefore reducing the amount of wasted energy pumped out of people’s homes.

Earlier this week, it was revealed the leader of the environmental group doesn’t insulate his own home.

He uses gas central heating in a single-glazed home and has no insulation in his walls, a report revealed.

Mr Norton, who is an electrician, has now said he is “terrible” for not practicing what he preaches.

[basalte]

There are too many wider issues raised by the above posts ( mainly about where people derive their current affairs perspectives from ) to give an answer that will not take up at least an hour of my time but I will have a go .The main theme of many of the above posts follows a  “ man bites dog “news agenda ; 90 % of dogs will bite people & it’s not news . Find the one man who bites the dog however and it’s big big news ! And it sells papers ! 
Find the hypocrite protester and it’s big news ! Find the protestor who prevents a driver visiting his sick relative and it’s big news ! Find the violent protestor and it’s big news ! 
A constant focus on the exceptional, the sensational , the scandalous the outrageous- oh yes you get a story alright - then use it to shore up your particular prejudices.

We all do it but some are more aware of that indoctrination process than others .
 

A key feature is the “labelling “ process via the mass media that singles out particular groups for “ criticism “. Look more closely and those groups ( “ woke politically correct brigades , rent a mobs “ et al ) start dissolving into individuals with their own motivations including hypocrites as referred to above - but the press insists on squashing them into artificial constructs who all behave similarly- or making the lone “dog- biter “ into a representative of the whole group - they LOVE to do that - and that’s the real lie at work here . 

Interestingly ( and linked to my above point ) there have been two above major mischaracterisations of my views - that I somehow “ accept “ the protests and that I think “all freedom is being stifled “ at the moment “. The relevant legislation has not yet been passed but the intended legislation is the police bill - that protestors who “ annoy “ others can be arrested & detained . There is no legal definition of “ annoyance “ in English law - if I turn up outside C8 RKHs house at present shouting this post out , he would rightly be annoyed but couldn’t have me arrested . With the new police bill , he could call police , claim to be annoyed and the police could then have grounds to arrest me . A judge then gets to decide whether I “annoyed “ anyone but by then I will have been in  a police cell - probably overnight . That is China and North Korea territory. 

The above is what I mean by “ an agenda … to stifle freedom “ . It’s not some lefty fantasy , as has now been blatantly asserted by those whose sources of information lead them to particular perspectives that do not reveal the whole story ( that men bite dogs not the mundane reverse )!- the proposed legal changes are a cackhanded attempt to control elements who are going to be suffering from the austerity agenda . With the police as the fall guys . 

(oh well at least Ant and Dec might get arrested - they annoy me intensely . )