To think that Insulate Britain are an absolute menace…

[Flawedperfection]

Just that really. Currently listening to LBC radio.
And they should be held to account for the death of the woman last week who couldn’t reach an hospital for 6 hours, following what would normally have been a much shorter journey. An oncologist also couldn’t get to work, where she was surely urgently needed.
I understand they have a message, but what if they do more help than good?
What do you think?

@sst1234

None of these ‘activists’ can ever answer the question - what is the point in this virtue signalling when UK has less than 1% of global carbon emissions? Really what difference does it make?

These people are basically well heeled self proclaimed progressives who don’t have real jobs or complexity in their lives. They patronise the general public by lecturing. And lecturing is all it is. It makes 0 difference to climate change what UK public does. An now the action of this scummy group has led to the death of someone’s mother/sister/daughter. It’s an unlawful killing.

We can do more in UK to decrease pollution, have cleaner air, be less reliant on the motorcar etc more for our own benefit.

On a global scale what the UK does is irrelevant when it's much more the major countries (in population and land mass) like China, Brazil and America that are destroying the planet through carbons.

Wonder if the idiots voting to say you are being unreasonable will share their reasoning. Or maybe not, because it might consume their only remaining brain cell.

@User135644

So basically virtue signalling then.

Some more people who didn’t get enough attention as children.

These people are disgusting. If emergency vehicles are blocked by them, they should have the right to just plough right through these 'activists'!

I didn't realise someone had died. I'd be charging the organiser with manslaughter (or whatever they can be charged with in English law).

[quote sst1234]@User135644

So basically virtue signalling then.[/quote]
It is in a global sense. Protest outside the Chinese or US embassy if they really want to make a point.

I'd still like to live in a less polluted country though.

@HarrietsChariot

They're scum, there's no other word. Well, there are lots of less polite ones I suppose.

When XR were on the rampage a few years back I made a committment not to recycle anything for a year and largely managed it for a long while, though I've gradually slipped back into doing it because of the convenience factor. I also used to leave the taps running as much as possible.

I don't really want to start that nonsense again but this road-blocking bullshit has angered me every bit as much as the XR twats disrupting public transport, so I think I will have to.

I know wasting water and not recycling aren't exactly what "Insulate Britain" are protesting about but it feels like the only action I can reasonably take. At least it's sticking two fingers up to the environmentalist thugs in a general sense.

Some things are easier, I try to buy things that have a lot of "food miles" and processed stuff because often they're cheaper than buying local/organic stuff.

I’m no fan of XR at all, but this is just selfishness and rank stupidity.

[quote sst1234]@User135644

So basically virtue signalling then.[/quote]
How can it be virtue signalling if they're actually doing something?

if you want government to take notice & want ordinary people to support you - this is totally the wrong way to do it.
the government has now got support from us plebs against them -daft!
sit down at the end of Downing street block that (I am NOT suggesting this!!) would have made more sense & would probably have got some support, or at least not annoyed 98% of the population & caused damage to this poor lady & others.

@MichelleScarn

Are they a ridiculous off shoot of XR? I cannot stand their actions and do not believe for one second either are about the environment, more a 'disrupt the state' worse version of Wolfie Smith

XR claim they’re not related, which appears to be a lie?

They were posting about supporting Insulate Britain in their private XR WhatsApp groups:
thecritic.co.uk/astroturfing-xr/

They still had a post preaching about its aims and what they were planning up on “Animal Rebellion”:
animalrebellion.org/event/roger-hallam-insulate-britain-strategy-and-recruitment/

And it’s led by Roger Hallam, the ex-co-founder of Extinction Rebellion. They were even advertising an info session about Insulate Britain on their Extinction Global page (see attached photo). Still on Google, but now that link goes nowhere: “404 Not Found.”

Based on evidence, I’d say it’s possible XR are in it up to their eyeballs.

@araiwa

When XR were on the rampage a few years back I made a committment not to recycle anything for a year and largely managed it for a long while, though I've gradually slipped back into doing it because of the convenience factor. I also used to leave the taps running as much as possible.

What?

That’s just stupid

You might not agree with their methods (I don’t) but you can agree on what they are advocating for in the first place and then doing your best towards it even if it isn’t 100% obvious.

Knee jerk reactions are just as stupid as their stupid reactions just not at the same scale.
Being more sustainable, thinking about the choices you make and taking actions to help are all brilliant things to do and should be encouraged however there are ways to get people on message and this group haven't got it. They cause stupid knee jerk reactions and government dismissal as troublemakers.
Positive events like the Festival of Thrift, Retrofit first campaign, recycling and sustainability campaigns with positive actions that make people realise that actually if we all make small actions it will collectively make a difference are better and more likely to change attitudes in the long term especially when they make the king term arguments for viability in terms of running costs. The current gas price hike should be a wake up point for many that small actions like insulating & draught proofing can make a really difference and can make sense not only environmentally but economically.
The argument that as a country we can't make a difference globally is flawed as is the argument over emissions as our figures don't cover things like the embodied carbon or pollution caused by all the things we import (which is an awful lot).
I'm not a sustainability campaigner but o try to do my but not only with my actions but to encourage others and also campaign for legislative change.

It's deeply irritating; and dangerous. People could die (and perhaps have because of not being able to get to medical care)

I was rather irate last Monday when I was stuck in traffic as a result of this.

But, can't help thinking that climate change so serious that in future, roads might be blocked due to floods or serious storms. That's going to be dreadful too. Perhaps there are no good options here?

I have a very old friend who has been swept into this movement. It is like a cult, no room for descent or individual thinking. There is usually a man at the top and he styles himself as 'the only person who knows the truth'. It is terrifying when someone you love is trapped in one of these groups. She has given up all her possessions including her phone and doesn't speak to her family or friends any more. The thinking is black and white, no room for any discussion. It's very dark.

There's different ways to cause disruption though isn't there?

The cleverest protests hit those in power hard but don't harm those without. Like the rail strikes I read about once - not sure where but it was abroad - where the staff just opened the barriers and let the people travel for free in protest. Actually benefited those without the power and hit the company in the wallet.

Those poor delivery drivers stuck in that will have got their arses kicked for missing drops and like OP said, harm to health even death caused by disruption. But Jeff Bezos and Boris Johnson probably went about their day not even noticing!

It's a clumsy way to get a headline with a side order of pissing off thousands of people.

Same with most protests and strikes, they target the wrong people and lose support,creating more pollution as they go.

Selfish fuckers. Perhaps if they put their efforts into coming up with a way to enable travel without the pollution I’d have some respect for them.

Yep annoying ordinary people will get them attention, but also massively turn people off their cause which seems exceptionally counter productive

Turn who off their case? Most likely most people on the M25 are older people with a majority view that they'll probably be dead or near the end by the time the worst consequences of climate change really set in - massive frequent natural disasters, widescale food and resource shortages and wars to name a few. Older generations have shown for long enough that collectively they don't give a shit and will happily leave younger generations to a horrific fate, why should anyone who cares about climate change care if these people are inconvenienced?

More beneficial for climate change than the single issue of isolating British homes is the contribution and added momentum to increasingly disruptive activism amongst younger groups across the world to actually take climate change seriously, because asking nicely and increasingly bleak scientific reports are making bugger all difference.

@HarrietsChariot

They're scum, there's no other word. Well, there are lots of less polite ones I suppose.

When XR were on the rampage a few years back I made a committment not to recycle anything for a year and largely managed it for a long while, though I've gradually slipped back into doing it because of the convenience factor. I also used to leave the taps running as much as possible.

I don't really want to start that nonsense again but this road-blocking bullshit has angered me every bit as much as the XR twats disrupting public transport, so I think I will have to.

I know wasting water and not recycling aren't exactly what "Insulate Britain" are protesting about but it feels like the only action I can reasonably take. At least it's sticking two fingers up to the environmentalist thugs in a general sense.

Some things are easier, I try to buy things that have a lot of "food miles" and processed stuff because often they're cheaper than buying local/organic stuff.

You're as twisted in the head as they are... Why the fuck should the selfish actions of a tiny minority stop you recycling?

They’re selfish shits and turning everyone off their important message. Stopping normal every day people getting to work is harming their cause. I think they enjoy attention seeking especially those who bloody commuted from other parts of England to waste police time and resources by glueing themselves to railings. I mean, that’s bizarre.

The Hollywood-level sense of entitlement they assume in believing that that have the moral right to disrupt the lives or ordinary people is utterly repugnant.

I really despise them

@2point7degrees

“ Turn who off their case? Most likely most people on the M25 are older people with a majority view that they'll probably be dead or near the end by the time the worst consequences of climate change really set in.”

Umm what?!! Only older people commute on the
M25? What on earth makes you say that?

Umm what?!! Only older people commute on the
M25? What on earth makes you say that?

I could pretend I thought this was an honest attempt to understand the point and give a response to elaborate, but given you've immediately resorted to changing the word "most" to "only" to create a strawman it is far too evident that you have no genuine interest in understand any point of view other than your own.

In isolation, they’ve got a point. UK homes are poorly insulated relative to other equally cold, wet countries and properly insulating homes would not only decrease carbon emissions, it would decrease housing poverty as those least able to afford it would see their bills come down/quality of life improve in dry, warm homes.

However, stopping traffic on the M25 and causing anything from delay to death for ordinary working people is the most perplexing way I can think of to make an environmental point.

@HarrietsChariot

They're scum, there's no other word. Well, there are lots of less polite ones I suppose.

When XR were on the rampage a few years back I made a committment not to recycle anything for a year and largely managed it for a long while, though I've gradually slipped back into doing it because of the convenience factor. I also used to leave the taps running as much as possible.

I don't really want to start that nonsense again but this road-blocking bullshit has angered me every bit as much as the XR twats disrupting public transport, so I think I will have to.

I know wasting water and not recycling aren't exactly what "Insulate Britain" are protesting about but it feels like the only action I can reasonably take. At least it's sticking two fingers up to the environmentalist thugs in a general sense.

Some things are easier, I try to buy things that have a lot of "food miles" and processed stuff because often they're cheaper than buying local/organic stuff.

Sorry..... what? Like actually, WTF?

Are people really as childish and ridiculous as this?

You can disagree with XR and IB's methods - I totally get that, but how exactly do you think your actions are helping?

I can only conclude that a lot of people are idiotic shits, if they think this is acceptable behaviour for an adult