Trials will restart at 10am tomorrow at Woolwich Crown Court for supporters accused of public nuisance for taking part in Insulate Britain’s 2021 campaign of nonviolent civil resistance undertaken to demand the UK government insulate Britain’s cold and leaky homes. A campaign that was later called prescient by a number of commentators.[1] [2] [3]
Six supporters face trial for taking part in the first two roadblocks of the campaign on 13th September 2021 at M25 J14 “Poyle Interchange” and on 15th September at M25 J25. A further ten trials and retrials are scheduled to take place at Woolwich Crown Court up to June 2025. [4][5]
The last series of Insulate Britain public nuisance trials took place at Inner London Crown Court in 2022 and 2023 under Judge Silas Reid. Amongst other things, he banned defendants from explaining their motivations or the context for their actions to the jury, sent people to prison for using the terms “climate change” and “fuel poverty” in court and ordered the arrest and referred for prosecution those who reminded jurors of their right to make decisions on their conscience.
An Insulate Britain spokesperson said
“Insulate Britain supporters are proud to have been in nonviolent civil resistance to save lives, stop families choosing between heating and eating and strive for a livable future for all. In the three years since they took action, it has been widely accepted that they were right.
“Despite this a new Labour government has chosen to freeze the vulnerable by restricting winter fuel payments, and is offering inadequate public funds for home insulation while giving away billions to the fossil fuel industry for greenwashing carbon capture and storage. ”
“The first duty of the government is to protect the people. Insulating homes is an investment that saves lives, creates millions of proper jobs and saves carbon too. It’s time for Keir Starmer to get on with the job of doing what’s best for ordinary people.”
As a 2019 House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee report made clear, “total energy use could be reduced by an estimated 25 per cent by 2035 through cost-effective investments in energy efficiency and low carbon heat—equivalent to the annual output of six Hinkley Point C” nuclear power stations, while additionally “66,000 to 86,000 new jobs could be sustained annually across all UK regions” in the process. But successive governments have failed to deliver these benefits. [6]
There is still a need to insulate Britain’s leaky housing stock. With millions of families now living in penury due to their dependence on fossil fuels which have seen huge price increases since the 2021 campaign. Energy Bills rose again by 10% on 1st October, leaving 6 million UK households in fuel poverty and a new survey by fuel poverty charity National Energy Action and YouGov has found almost half (46%) of adults in Great Britain say they are likely to ration their energy use this winter.[7]
In the 21 Insulate Britain jury trials for public nuisance charges to date, four trials have resulted in a hung jury, two trials have resulted in acquittals, twelve have resulted in a guilty verdict and three have been deferred. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has applied for retrials in the three cases where the jury failed to reach a majority verdict.
The CPS has chosen to summon a total of 56 supporters to answer at least 201 charges of public nuisance across some 45 jury trials, with additional retrials planned up to June 2025. These trials have been heard across Inner London, Hove, Lewes, Reading and now Woolwich Crown Courts.
ENDS
Press contact: 07762987334
Email: insulatebritainpress@protonmail.com
High quality photos and video footage available here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Kucq-NfhnZLGJWwLx1HX03cWR7M9Y2-m
Website: https://www.insulatebritain.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/insulatebritain
Twitter: https://twitter.com/insulatelove
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8N5mAeeCLbD-AFUqtPaF0g
Notes to Editors
[1] Insulate Britain is a campaign group that is calling on the UK government to put in place policy and funding for a national home insulation programme starting with all social housing by 2025, and create a meaningful plan to insulate the entire UK housing stock by 2030.
Further information about Insulate Britain and our demands here:
https://insulatebritain.com/
Technical Report on home energy efficiency here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jt5FI-kinEXoqZtPDrCvnAVQ2EFn8Aea/view
Insulate Britain ‘Blue Lights’ policy: our policy is, and has always been, to move out of the way for emergency vehicles with ‘blue lights’ on.
[2] https://unherd.com/newsroom/insulate-britain-was-right-all-along/
[4] https://insulatebritain.com/2021/09/13/get-the-job-done/
[5] https://insulatebritain.com/2021/09/15/why-is-an-82-year-old-stepping-out-onto-the-road/
[6] https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmbeis/1730/1730.pdf