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M25 protests latest: Insulate Britain activists dash past police onto carriageway in new demonstration

Insulate Britain activists have run out in front of oncoming traffic to block the London orbital’s high-speed carriageway.

In heart-stopping scenes on Tuesday morning, activists run in front of lorries after slipping past a small number of police who attempt in vain to drag them back to the hard shoulder near J10 in Woking.

Traffic was forced to stop as the activists sprawled out across all the lanes and completely block both sides with signs.

Surrey Police said they made 23 arrests on Tuesday morning as they quickly moved to reopen the motorway.

Insulate Britain claimed “new people” joined this morning’s protest along with some who have participated in similar demonstrations in Hertfordshire, Kent, Essex and Surrey.

The latest protest involved around 25 protesters, split between each side of the eight-lane motorway.

A spokesman said: “Two lanes on both clockwise and anticlockwise carriageways of the M25 between junctions 9 and 10 are now fully re-opened after officers cleared all of the Insulate Britain protesters off of the road. 23 arrests have been made.”

It came as Zoe Cohen of Insulate Britain said the group were not expecting public support and compared the movement to the Suffragettes.

She told Nick Ferrari on LBC: “It’s not about justifying [potential injuries to activists and motorists]. Our Government is failing to protect British families.

“Thousands of people will die this winter from fuel poverty. Millions will struggle, we don’t know if we can eat at Christmas.

“We hate doing this, we don’t want to do it. We have to cause disruption. It is the only thing we have left in our liberal democracy. We are not really expecting to get public support the Suffragettes were hated at the time.”

Activists step into oncoming traffic (LBC)
Activists step into oncoming traffic (LBC)

It came after the group “profoundly apologised” for disruption in an open letter to the Home Secretary.

The letter read: “We wish to profoundly apologise for the disruption we have caused over past week on the M25 motorway. We cannot imagine undertaking such acts in normal circumstances. But, like you and other Conservatives, we believe that the reality of our situation has to be faced.

“The facts are laid out by Sir David King, former chief scientific advisor to the UK government: ‘We have to move quickly. What we do, I believe, in the next three to four years will determine the future of humanity’.

“The collapse of the climate is happening around us, and will soon get worse unless we immediately reduce carbon emissions. We face economic chaos and the breakdown of law and order within a matter of years.”

A protester sits in the road
A protester sits in the road

A total of 41 people were arrested in connection with the protests on the M25 and A1(M) on Monday.

The group said the only way they will stop blocking the M25 is if the government commit to insulate all of Britain’s 29 million “leaky” homes by 2030, and all social housing by 2025.

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