Eco-Warriors Insulate Britain Cost UK Taxpayer £4.3 Million in Policing

A climate activist from the group Insulate Britain is arrested and carried away by police
DANIEL SORABJI/AFP via Getty Images
Nathaniel Charles

The co-extremist protest group ‘Insulate Britain’ has reportedly cost the British taxpayer £4.3 million in policing costs.

Insulate Britain’s road-blocking protests have cost at least £4.3 million in policing costs throughout 2021. This figure does not include the wider cost of the radical environmental group, as it is unknown what financial costs individuals and UK businesses suffered as a result of the disruptive protests.

Ironically, the £4.3 million shelled out by the government to police the protests is the equivalent of the cost of insulating around 3,500 homes in Britain, the Daily Mail reports.

Insulate Britain, which demands the government spend billions in insulating all social housing and to decarbonise the economy as a whole, is a splinter group of the international climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion.

Insulate Britain rose to notoriety this year after blocking major motorways throughout the country, such as the M25, in an effort to force the government into adopting their extremist climate agenda.

The protests caused widespread disruption, and several members have been jailed as a consequence of their actions. Yet, the vast majority of activists were spared jail time.

Despite a short period of quiet, it appears that Insulate Britain will likely continue their protests in 2022.

Appearing on LBC Radio on Wednesday, Insulate Britain spokesperson Zoe Cohen refused to rule out continuing protests in the New Year.

When pressed on whether the group would return to block roads in the new year, Cohen merely said that the activists and supporters of the group are currently “getting together to decide what to do next”.

However, when she was quizzed again about the group’s intentions, she responded by rhetorically questioning: “Has the government actually insulated the homes of the British people and reduced our emissions?” seemingly suggesting a return to protests.

Alongside Cohen’s remarks, during an Insulate Britain High Court hearing, the judge was told that there was intelligence suggesting that protests will continue in the Spring of 2022, the Daily Mail reports.

Insulate Britain protests have been met with widespread public condemnation due to the disruption and motorists being targeted. Brexit boss turned GB News host Nigel Farage accused the group of acting like “terrorists”.

Even Keir Starmer, the socialist Labour Party’s leader, branded the tactics used by Insulate Britain as “counterproductive”.

The British police have also received widespread condemnation over their soft approach with the road blocking protestors for apparently failing to take swift action and clear the roads.

This led to some instances of motorists taking the law into their own hands and dragging the protestors off the road.

In one instance a mother attempted to drive through a protest while trying to take her child to school. The driver Sherrilyn Speid, 34, who nudged a protestor with her car, has since been charged by the police with assault and will appear in court in January. Yet, the police have decided not to charge the protestor who illegally blocked the road.

There have also been accusations of hypocrisy against the group after it was revealed that Insulate Britain leader Liam Norton is living in a home that is not insulated.

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