Insulate Britain Twisted M25 Protests - Are The XR Strategists Stupid Or Malicious? Tony Gosling
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9984953/Motorists-clash-Insulate-Britain-climate-activists-blocking-M25.html
The M25 road BLOCKERS: Corbynite rabble-rouser who was fined £267 for dropping a cigarette outside Jobcentre and HS2 protester who spent 16 days up tree at Parliament are among 60 arrested over chaos
Steve Gower, 54, is unemployed but describes himself as a advocate for the homeless and a campaigner
Eli Rose, 26, spent 16 days living in a tree in Parliament Square to protest the HS2 rail link
It took up to four hours to arrest the activists with 60 arrested for illegally obstructing the highway
Group is Extinction Rebellion offshoot urging Government to reduce home heating emissions to zero
** Do you know the driver who confronted one of the protesters? Please email: [email protected] **
By MARK DUELL and MARTIN ROBINSON, CHIEF REPORTER FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 09:35, 13 September 2021 | UPDATED: 08:24, 14 September 2021
A Corbynite who was fined £267 for dropping a cigarette outside a Jobcentre and an HS2 protester who spent 16 days up a tree at Parliament were among 60 people arrested over M25 road block chaos.
Steve Gower, 54, from Gloucester, is unemployed but describes himself as a volunteer advocate for the homeless and is an active Unite union campaigner.
He was arrested alongside 60 other Extinction Rebellion protesters today who blocked five junctions of the M25 for up to four hours.
Last summer Gower was ordered to pay £267 by a magistrate after he dropped a cigarette in the street while visiting a Jobcentre.
He said that the fine spiralled because he couldn't afford the reduced fine of £75 and was told there was no opportunity to pay in instalments.
Steve Gower, 54, pictured in a 'Team Corbyn' T-shirt from Gloucester, is one of the ringleaders of today's protests +44
Steve Gower, 54, pictured in a 'Team Corbyn' T-shirt from Gloucester, is one of the ringleaders of today's protests
And he was joined at the M25 road blockage by Eli Rose, 26, who spent 16 days in a tree last September to protest the HS2 rail link. Ms Rose lived in the tree in Parliament Square because she 'cannot bear' knowing her potential future children will be born 'into a world where they will have to battle through food shortages and drought.'
She said that police didn't let anyone pass food or water to her for two days which made her feel ill but she added: 'Some of the protesters were doctors and enabled antibiotics to be tied on to a rope.'
The pair were among 60 other Extinction Rebellion activists who were arrested during the mayhem along the M25 today.
Obstruction of a British road 'without lawful authority or excuse' is an offence under section 137 of the Highways Act 1980, with a punishment of a fine and up to six months in prison. Yet at junction 14 of the M25, it took four hours to arrest the activists and reopen the road at one of the busiest stretches of motorway in the UK.
And the failure of police to immediately arrest climate change protesters sparked fury today as a video emerged of officers protecting the law-breaking activists while dragging away an irate and incredulous driver who decided to take the law into his own hands.
The unnamed motorist tried to pull activists off the sliproad, believed to be at junction three for Swanley, Kent, as another man repeatedly yells at a policeman: 'I just don't understand why you won't move them'.
Eli Rose (pictured), 26, spent 16 days in a tree last September to protest the HS2 rail link. Ms Rose lived in the tree in Parliament Square because she 'cannot bear' knowing her potential future children will be born 'into a world where they will have to battle through food shortages and drought' +44
Eli Rose (pictured), 26, spent 16 days in a tree last September to protest the HS2 rail link. Ms Rose lived in the tree in Parliament Square because she 'cannot bear' knowing her potential future children will be born 'into a world where they will have to battle through food shortages and drought'
The driver trying to break-up the protest and tear down banners was then dragged away by officers who then returned to guarding the members of Insulate Britain, a new offshoot of Extinction Rebellion.
There was also disruption and long queues at junction six for Godstone in Surrey, 14 for London Heathrow Airport, 20 for Kings Langley in Hertfordshire and 31 for Purfleet in Essex. There have been 92 arrests so far.
With police again accused of being too scared of tackling climate
