Two Insulate Britain supporters from Somerset were arrested outside Parliament yesterday (12th October). They were among twenty six others from around the country who returned to the road under the Insulate Britain banner to stop traffic outside the Houses of Parliament, in resistance against what they describe as the Government’s ‘kill’ policies. The blockade was timed to coincide with the Prime Minister’s arrival at the House of Commons for Prime Minister’s Questions. [1] Insulate Britain rose to notoriety last autumn for bringing the M2 around London to a standstill day after day for around two months. They are demanding that the Government take responsibility for and fully fund the retrofitting and insulating of Britain’s homes, starting with social housing by 2025, and the entire UK housing stock by 2030. A spokesperson from the campaign said “It has been thirteen months since Insulate Britain started our campaign and we have had no choice but to return to the roads because the demand to Insulate Britain has not been met”. Yesterday’s roadblocks are part of the Just Stop Oil coalition’s month-long campaign of nonviolent civil resistance happening daily across central London. [2] Ana Heyatawin, a 59 year-old from Radstock, was arrested on Wednesday, having already spent time in prison twice for her involvement in Insulate Britain. She said “We are facing a cost-of-living crisis which means people are having to choose between heating their homes or feeding their families. Once again thousands of people will freeze to death this winter because the government refuses to insulate our housing stock and end fuel poverty. This is callous and totally preventable and ordinary people have had enough. This is not complicated, insulating Britain’s cold and leaky homes will create thousands of proper jobs, keep people warm, lower fuel bills and cut emissions, the government just need to get on with it!” National Energy Action (NEA) estimates that the number of households in fuel poverty across the UK was 6.5 million in April 2022, an increase of more than 50% in just over six months. It is estimated that as a result of the energy price hike on October 1st this year, a further 8 million households will now fall into fuel poverty by April 1st 2023. [3][4] A paramedic from the campaign said: “As a Paramedic I see the devastating consequences of government failure first hand. I attend elderly people who have died in cold, uninsulated houses. Often living in just one room to try and save on heating costs. Scared to turn the fire on. Chronic hypothermia sets in and they die needlessly, in one of the wealthiest nations on earth. This is one of the most upsetting things about it. We should be able to support these elderly vulnerable people. They should be able to live in a warm, well insulated home. The government, and companies making obscene profits such as Shell and BP should be ashamed!” A spokesperson for Insulate Britain said “Insulate Britain is part of the Just Stop Oil coalition. Insulation is vital in lowering the UK’s demand for energy and carbon emissions and for improving energy security by reducing our reliance on imported fossil fuels. We urge citizens to take a stand by joining the Just Stop Oil coalition’s campaign of nonviolent civil resistance happening every day throughout October, meeting at 11am outside Downing street. “Since Insulate Britain started over a year ago, the government has imprisoned at least 100 ordinary people for peaceful civil resistance. Meanwhile our government has accelerated fossil fuel exploration and licensing, they have borrowed hundreds of billions of pounds which instead of going into our pockets is going through our roofs and into the energy company’s coffers. We aren’t experiencing a recession in Britain right now, we’re experiencing a robbery! Politicians have shown that they are only interested in making the rich richer and the poor poorer. We have to resist them.”