Are Insulate Britain planning further protests in Birmingham?

Insulate Britian protesters have apologised for upsetting people during their protest in Birmingham - but have not ruled out future incidents.

A spokesman for the activists, who are calling for all homes to be insulated by 2030, insisted that “disruption is the only way to get attention”.

The protesters blocked Birmingham city centre roads twice today (Tuesday November 2) - on Great Charles Street and around Paradise Circus.

Around 20 people briefly and intermittently held up traffic for around an hour at 9am, and they returned again at around 1pm.

After discussions with officers, the protesters left the area with traffic flowing freely. No arrests were made.

Protesters from the environmental activist group also held protests in London and outside of the capital in Manchester as well as Birmingham today.

What have Insulate Britain said about the Birmingham protests?

Retired doctor Bing Jones, an activist and spokesman for the environmental protest group said today’s protests were held today to “put something which is clear and which people can understand right in front of them”.

Dr Bing Jones told BirminghamWorld : “Sadly, it doesn’t look as if this government is going to get anywhere and we feel that they are betraying us and the British people, and we feel we are going to have to keep going, although our plans are not absolutely clear at the moment and our plans are not going to go away.

“We feel we are going to have to keep going - we will stick around until this government comes forward and gives us a meaningful response which we can trust.”

He said: “We are there to block the streets and say ‘stop everybody’, and to think about how bad things are and think about a really clear plan which everybody can understand which is to make homes warm, cut emissions, make loads of really good jobs and lift people out of fuel poverty.

“We have done most of our road blocking in London so far on the grounds that it’s going to concentrate efforts, but the fact is that the problem is national and it’s a British and a world problem, so we are widening our area a little bit which is why we’ve been in London Birmingham and Manchester today.”

Protesters from Insulate Britain have been heavily criticised in recent weeks and months for blocking roads and preventing people from getting to work, school and hospital appointments.

Dr Jones explained the group’s tactics.

“We are really sorry to inconvenience anybody, but the fact is that inconveniencing people is the only way to get this message across,” he said.

“We have a policy to always let blue light vehicles through but we’re there for a reason.

“We are sorry to sit in the road, but sitting in the road and holding up your hand and rattling some cages , and saying ‘stop - business as usual is killing us’ is our basic message.

“The climate crisis is absolutely terrifying and what’s even more terrifying is the fact that the government is failing to address it properly and the world is failing to address it properly, and we need to do something and get on top of this and Insulate Britain has got a plan where people can understand it.”

He continued: “We are bringing a massive massive problem right down to our homes and we’re saying here is something the government can do and it’s something that’s in the Conservative Party manifesto and it’s something which will benefit almost everybody.

“We really can do simple straight forward things at home such as insulating houses and retrofitting houses.

“There are nearly 8 million people living in fuel poverty and that number will go up because energy bills are rising, and there are four million children who live in houses across the UK where parents have to decide between fuel - this is a crime.

“We’re sorry to upset people and we’re sorry to be disruptive but it’s only disruption that gets attention. And this is the single most important issue of our time and people don’t understand how bad it is - it’s really bad.”

Locals vent frustration following Birmingham protests

Following the protest this morning, some commuters took to Twitter to vent their frustration at the resulting traffic disruption.

Dr Jones said: “There will be local people who will feel understandably annoyed and I hope that with the focus on the COP26 climate conference at the moment this will have their minds concentrated.

“The two basic messages which people don’t seem to be able to have a good picture of are firstly that we’re looking at the most horrific climate catastrophe and a 2.7 degrees warmer world, which is awful - it’s dire and we are not getting anywhere near the carbon emission reductions that we need in fact they are rising.”

What did West Midlands Police say about the protests?

In a post on Twitter, West Midlands Police said: “Around 20 people briefly and intermittently blocked traffic at Great Charles Street for around an hour at around 9am and caused minimal disruption. The activists have now left the scene and dispersed.

“They have now dispersed peacefully, but our officers are continuing to monitor the situation and will remain in the city centre. No arrests have been made. We’d like to thank people for their patience.”

After a number of activists returned, a statement read: “We have spoken to the second group of activists who demonstrated on Great Charles Street Queensway and have directed them to stop their activity in the roadway. They have now left the area and traffic is flowing freely.”

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