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British police arrest dozens of climate activists over motorway blockade

2021-09-20T18:09:18.741Z


They stuck to the asphalt at several exits: For the fourth time within a few days, climate activists shut down the highways in the greater London area. The government called the protests unacceptable.


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Protesters on the asphalt: calling for better insulation in houses in the UK

Photo: Insulate Britain / dpa

In order to stop climate change, environmental activists are resorting to drastic measures.

In Berlin, some are on hunger strike - and in London they have stuck to the London ring road.

With this action, the M25 became the target of the activists again on Monday.

According to the police, they had stuck to the asphalt at several exits and spilled blue paint on the roadway.

Almost 30 people were arrested, said the authority in the county of Hertfordshire north-west of London.

At the Thames crossing in Dartford, east of the UK capital, there were a dozen other arrests when activists tried to block the carriageway.

Minister is considering tougher police operations

The Insulate Britain group is behind the sit-ins, which have caused traffic jams and delays on Britain's most busy motorway three times in the past week. The activists are campaigning for comprehensive thermal insulation of houses in Great Britain. A spokesman said the protests would continue until the government bowed to the group's demands.

Transport Minister Grant Shapps called on the demonstrators to stop the protests.

The actions are completely counterproductive, "because they produce the emissions that they actually want to prevent by bringing the cars to a standstill," said Shapps.

The conservative politician did not rule out a tougher approach by the police in order to end the protests.

Interior Minister Priti Patel called the protests unacceptable and said the police had to act decisively.

The action also met with little understanding from many motorists.

Some of them angrily said the action was preventing people from getting to work and hospital appointments and that it was so alienating the public from the cause.

"The protesters have made it clear that they want to continue to cause disruption," said a police spokesman in Hertfordshire.

"Deliberately blocking a motorway is not only incredibly dangerous, it also affects thousands of citizens."

apr / dpa / Reuters

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2021-09-20

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