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?

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

Recon one of them will have to be run over for this to stop…just don’t prosecute the driver

I am amazed that they haven't caused an accident as they step out into the carriageway of one of the busiest motorways in the country. This action alone is enough to make me hate them. So dangerous.

They have caused extraordinary levels of harm. Extinction Rebellion have tied up policing resources in the capital to the extent that there's no-one left in some places to work cases of suspicious deaths or provide liaison with families, causing pain and suffering to grieving families.

I'd fine the lot of them to hell and back.

@RedToothBrush

I have a friend who is a supporter. His posts on FB are getting more ridiculous.

This week he has posted about people having their freedoms removed for being unvaccinated. Then about these numpties.

Now I generally support the right not to be vaccinated, but his attitude made me think 'oh for god sake'. And I couldn't help but think about the insulate guys and how new build properties have issues with lack of ventilation and over heating because they are almost over insulated. And again its his attitude.

Basically he is an anti-establishmentarian rather than particularly having beliefs. He is a 40 something year old rebel. And his attitude is hostile and alienating and is liable to damage the causes he supports rather than encourage awareness.

I've known him years and he's really well meaning but totally clueless about how to encourage people to get on board with his causes.

Ironically I broadly support what he thinks, but he has this ability to make it annoying and want to say the opposite!!!

They would do better by learning how to better communicate with people. But then I suspect it wouldn't get them the attention or drama they seek as part of the lifestyle and being able to say they hate the state.

Cos thats what I really think its about - and if they weren't protesting about this, they'd simply be on a different bandwagon.

Nice guy, just looking for a purpose and cause in life.

Spot on.

@WhatTheFlap

I was in one of the cars stuck on the M25 last Monday. We had a 9 week old baby in the back who (legally) I couldn’t get out to feed or change for 2 hours (but obviously I did as we were at a standstill and he was screaming).

Our dog was also sitting at home on her own for 6 hours because of the massive delays we had. Probably not a huge deal to some people but unnecessary stress caused to her.

I don’t see how targeting people like us who may usually support their cause is going to help - now we just think they’re dickheads.

@WhatTheFlap that must have been dreadful for you, absolute arseholes that they are, and awful for your baby to be stuck for such a time in the seat, how uncomfortable for them. I'm a catastrophiser so I would have been panicking about the cars starting up to move while I was out and feeding/change the whole time!

@sst1234 @BlackCountryWench2 You couldn’t make this shite up. From an article about the founding of Extinction Rebellion, on when Gail Bradbrook, the XR co-founder, met Roger Hallam, the other XR co-founder and now founder of Insulate Britain.

“After Bradbrook returned, she ended her marriage and began to work with a group of activists, including Roger Hallam, a Welsh organic farmer pursuing a PhD at King's College London in radical campaign design.”

That’s why all he and his merry followers are fit to do is clog a road, design signs, call for media attention, (possibly) help contribute to the death or permanent disability of someone trying to reach the hospital, and NOT help insulate a single house at all.

You lost me at ''radical campaign design.” I mean, really!

If you watch how they get onto the motorway it’s a joke- the police practically escort them onto it- if they actually had to run infront of 70mph cars and lorries no way would they do it.

Does anyone else see the irony that an idiot environmentalist anarchist would go and study a course called Radical Campaign Design. Colleges and universities have been rinsing people by getting them to study these made up Mickey Mouse Degrees for a generation now, and making great profit out of it. Only an ‘evironmental activist’ would be be stupid enough to fall for this sort of course as a valid education.

And then just to top it off, he is also shit at the very thing he studied - Radical Campaign Design. As he’s alienated so many of the general public. Honestly, like others have said, you couldn’t make this shit up.

Perhaps he should have done a course in 'how to insulate homes' and started a business doing just that.

@sst1234

Does anyone else see the irony that an idiot environmentalist anarchist would go and study a course called Radical Campaign Design. Colleges and universities have been rinsing people by getting them to study these made up Mickey Mouse Degrees for a generation now, and making great profit out of it. Only an ‘evironmental activist’ would be be stupid enough to fall for this sort of course as a valid education.

And then just to top it off, he is also shit at the very thing he studied - Radical Campaign Design. As he’s alienated so many of the general public. Honestly, like others have said, you couldn’t make this shit up.

The housing federation group he co founded was part of another astroturf group which lobbied to change the law on fire door requirements in housing co-ops - they got it amended so HMO fire regs no longer applied to them. This was about ten to fifteen years ago.

^ I was really uncomfortable with that.

@MichelleScarn thankfully we could see for a pretty long way so would have been able to quickly put him back in the seat but it was absolutely not ideal!

Yes and it is very dangerous. I think they are an unincorporated association so every one of them is individually personally liable for the losses they cause. I would get a bunch of victims including that lady who had the stroke who is now damaged for life and bring a huge financial class action against as many of them as possible including the retired doctor one so we can seize her pension to pay out to the victims.

Whatever these idiots do,nothing is going to change by next week,if at all

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

If you watch how they get onto the motorway it’s a joke- the police practically escort them onto it- if they actually had to run infront of 70mph cars and lorries no way would they do it.

Oh wow, I had no idea. Makes me hate them even more.

@StorageIngredients

This particular situation is tragic and of course can't be condoned, but protest is supposed to be disruptive, inconveniencing the public the only way we've ever manged to force government to act. Teacher's strikes, for example, are effective when the public requires that government "do something".

Would women have the vote if the Suffragettes had played nice?

Yes. Suffragettes gained votes for women exactly for this, playing nice and supporting the war effort. They never would have achieved it had they stuck to their terrorism tactics. It turned many of the most sympathetic in society and politics completely against them.

You've got to be kidding, BlackCountryWench? You can't seriously believe that?

There was a good video online of a burly chap helping a couple of protestors to move to a position of safety at the side of the road so they wouldn't get knocked down and the police were stopping him!
Blocking a motorway like the M25 is a hugely dangerous thing to do - not for the twats sitting at the front but for the people caught in the hours of delays. People unable to get to hospital. Infants stuck in car seats far exceeding recommend safe time guidance. Knock on delays and accidents on diversion routes.
Those entitled twats should have been told to move then arrested and forcibly moved upon refusal and the road reopened. The kind of delays and disruption they caused cost real lives today whereas their campaign surrounds hypothetical lives at some indeterminate time in the future.
If they have real conviction in their message I suggest they block access to a football stadium on a match day and see how well they get on.

What really seems crazy is that this is the kind of thing that in the bigger picture, makes people support limits on protests. If they carry on with these bad decisions all they are going to find is that soon they will be much more restricted in what they can do.

Yes. You don’t seriously believe that hunger strikes, bombs and running at racehorses got women the vote, do you?

Sorry, had to add: upper class and middle class women taking part in hunger strikes, bombs and throwing themselves at racehorses. Working class women were too busy making chains and nails in their back yards, raising children, running households and then (1914-18) working in munitions factories. In war time, the government had to rely on women to keep the country running. That’s what gave us the vote. Not middle class suffragettes.

@BlackCountryWench2

Sorry, had to add: upper class and middle class women taking part in hunger strikes, bombs and throwing themselves at racehorses. Working class women were too busy making chains and nails in their back yards, raising children, running households and then (1914-18) working in munitions factories. In war time, the government had to rely on women to keep the country running. That’s what gave us the vote. Not middle class suffragettes.

You are absolutely correct. World War 1 got all adults the vote, not hunger strikes etc. BTW I think it is also important to acknowledge that not all men had the vote at this time, and they were the ones who were more likely to be cannon fodder.

That Liam bloke they had on GMB this morning hasn't done much to promote their cause! What an absolutely patronising hypocritical knob!! He needs be the first in jail for inciting terrorism

BlackCountryWench you really do need to learn a bit more history, especially working class history.

Good, National Highways have been granted an injunction against them and they could face imprisonment.
They are indeed a menace and are putting people off what are valid issues.
Interesting to read that middle class baby boomers are to blame on the one hand but that mainly old people use the M25 on the other hand and boomers don't care about the environment.
In any case it's counterproductive and stupid to protest by causing people massive inconvenience and sometimes severe harm.