Insulate Britain suspends road protests ahead of COP26 climate summit
Insulate Britain will suspend its demonstrations until October 25.
It announced its decision yesterday to stop campaigning in an open letter written to the Prime Minister.
They said that the protests were being suspended ahead of the UN’s COP26 climate conference.
The UK is hosting the summit in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November, where 200 countries are being asked for their plans to cut emissions by 2030.
The activist group wanted to give the Prime Minister 11 days to come up with a plan to insulate all of Britain’s homes by 2030.
Since September 13, its demonstrators have been causing chaos by blocking major London roads, including the M1, M25 and Thames Crossings.
They have been engaging in sit-down protests and disrupting road users to to put pressure on the government.
Insulate Britain has blocked roads on 14 days over the past five weeks, often gluing their hands to the roads motorways to slow down police efforts to remove them.
Their actions have antagonised many motorists with multiple incidences of members of the public dragging protesters away from the roads.
Hundreds of its demonstrators have been arrested since they first started direct action last month, and the government has taken out court injunctions to try and prevent further action.
Referring to the disruption caused in the past five weeks, the group says in its letter to the prime minister, “We cannot imagine undertaking such acts in normal circumstances. But the dire reality of our situation has to be faced.”
Insulate Britain also said they restart their protests if Mr Johnson does not deliver “a meaningful or trustworthy statement” on improving the insulation in UK homes.
They also pressured the government to reduce CO2 emissions and create “proper jobs” in a new green economy.