Insulate Britain protester urged to stop blockades in 2022

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Insulate Britain protester Zoe Cohen vowed to continue the campaign in 2022 as the group has been scheduling meetings. Speaking to LBC, Ms Cohen said: “Insulate Britain supporters are getting together to decide what to do next.”

Presenter Andrew Castle interjected: “Don’t come back, don’t inconvenience people because somebody’s going to get killed or run over.

“That is a serious concern. Don’t do it.”

Ms Cohen continued: “I think your children and grandchildren will have something to say about that.

“What are you doing to stop this? Big picture here, we need massive change.”

It comes as policing Insulate Britain’s road-blocking protests cost taxpayers at least £4.3 million, an investigation has found.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he was “appalled” by the bill, which was disclosed by police forces in response to Freedom of Information requests by the PA news agency.

The Metropolitan Police said it spent £4 million dealing with the climate group’s stunts between September 13 and November 20.

Some 6,651 of the force’s officers and staff were involved, at a cost of £3.1 million.

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A further £600,000 was spent on deploying vehicles, while the overtime cost was £300,000.

Four other forces provided figures totalling more than £300,000 but only included overtime bills, meaning the actual cost of policing protests in their areas was considerably higher.

They were Hertfordshire Constabulary (£185,000), Surrey Police (£110,000), City of London Police (£44,000) and Greater Manchester Police (£10,000).

Insulate Britain, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, wants the Government to insulate all UK homes by 2030 to cut carbon emissions.

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It repeatedly blocked major roads between September and November, causing long traffic jams.

Activists often glued their hands to the road or each other to make it harder to remove them.

The group frequently targeted the M25, the UK’s busiest motorway, but also blocked roads in Manchester, Birmingham, London and the Port of Dover, Kent.

At one stage police officers were deployed at every junction of the M25 in an attempt to stop the group.

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