Priti Patel orders police to crack down on climate activists after M25 protests

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In the footage seen by The Telegraph, the officer is pictured standing on the road off Intersection 25 in Enfield while protesters wait in the center of the roundabout. The operatives then follow the officer onto the car-free road and head to their target.

Then they walk right in front of the policeman, who takes no action and are allowed to sit in their high-visibility jackets and hold up Insulate Britain signs.

It was one of three stretches of the M25 and adjacent ramps targeted by Insulate Britain activists on Wednesday in a coordinated demonstration just after 8 a.m., causing traffic chaos during rush hour.

At one point, angry motorists tried to take the law into their own hands and drag protesters who were stuck on the tarmac, but police officers were physically prevented from doing so. A woman injured in a crash during the chaos remained in serious condition on Thursday.

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told LBC on Thursday that the police should have acted more quickly to remove the environmentally friendly protesters.

“I suspect [what is needed is] A quick fix for those folks who sit in the M25 and don’t get in people’s way, a lot of people who get paid by the hour and don’t have sympathetic bosses. Why would they lose their livelihood because someone wants to sit in the middle of the road? ” He said.

‘We need an appropriate response to environmental extremists’

Mark Jones, president of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), called for a “strong and appropriate” response to environmental fighters – and warned that it was “not a good idea to please them”.

He told The Telegraph: “We as elected people working alongside the police need to give all the support we can for an appropriate and robust response. I don’t think it does anything to satisfy those people who choose this course of action.”

“The rights of a few do not compromise the rights of anyone else in society. It is unacceptable that any national infrastructure is compromised and can be boycotted by any group to achieve its own ends.”

A former senior police chief blamed the “waking up” police chiefs for their lack of will and failure to provide the resources to deal with environmental “extremists” who had committed “organized crimes”.

“Obstructing the highway is a crime. There doesn’t seem to be much will from the police to address this point. We need senior police officers saying we’re going to get this under control. This is criminality and organized extremism. But you don’t get any of that,” he said.

The only way you can prevent this from happening is if you hack them with undercover officers and use intrusive interceptors. Then you will know what is planned and nip it in the bud.”

This is not a legal protest.

Richard Walton, former head of counterterrorism at the Metropolitan Police, said: “The illegal highway blockade is environmental extremism and not a legal protest.

“Environmental extremists who use planned and illegal tactics to aggressively block major roads such as far-right and Islamic extremists must be dealt with – with the full force of the law, using all available police tactics.”

Eighty-nine protesters were arrested after Wednesday’s move but warned police before releasing them from custody that they intended to “return to sit on a highway at the earliest opportunity”.

Many of those arrested on Wednesday were involved in Monday’s highway closure.

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