24 September 2021, AM
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, it’s also what it takes to sit down… – Winston Churchill
This morning over 40 people that have been involved in Insulate Britain’s 10 days of motorway protests blocked Europe’s busiest ferry port, the Port of Dover.
Two groups have blocked the A20 at the Eastern Docks roundabout and near the junction with Union Street for the Western Docks.
Insulate Britain is demanding that the UK government immediately promises to fully fund and take responsibility for the insulation of all social housing in Britain by 2025 and produce, within four months, a legally binding national plan for a low carbon retrofit of all homes by 2030. [2]
A spokesperson for the group said
“We are sorry for the disruption that we are causing. It seems to be the only way to keep the issue of insulation on the agenda and to draw attention to how poorly insulated homes are causing ill health, misery and early death for many thousands of people. We are failing the country’s cold hungry families and the elderly and placing an enormous burden on the NHS.
Insulating our leaky homes is one of the most cost effective ways to reduce carbon emissions and it has all these additional benefits – reducing fuel poverty, creating jobs, reducing the burden on the NHS and protecting people from overheating during future heat waves. It’s a no-brainer. Boris just needs to get on with the job”.
When asked why they have targeted Dover this morning, a spokesperson said:
“We are blocking Dover this morning to highlight that fuel poverty is killing people in Dover and across the UK. We need a Churchillian response: we must tell the truth about the urgent horror of the Climate Emergency. Change at the necessary speed and scale requires economic disruption. We wish it wasn’t true, but it is. It’s why the 2000 fuel protests got a U-turn in policy and gave Blair his biggest challenge as Prime Minister.”
9.5% of all households in Dover are living in fuel poverty. [3]
The UK ranked 13th out of 16 European countries for fuel poverty according to research conducted by ACE in 2015. The research also showed that the UK ranked last in terms of affordability of heating. [4]
ENDS
Press contact: 07737 457105
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?lang=en
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8N5mAeeCLbD-AFUqtPaF0g
Notes to Editors
[2] About Insulate Britain
Insulate Britain is a new 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.
We demand the Prime Minister and the government to #getonwiththejob, face up to their responsibility and lead our country through the climate crisis.
We are ordinary British citizens with simple and achievable demands to #INSULATEBRITAIN
The UK government must immediately promise to fully fund and take responsibility for the insulation of all social housing in Britain
We demand a national home insulation strategy that gives British people the justice they deserve: a future for our loved ones, lower energy bills and safer living conditions
We are scared: our livelihoods are at risk and the futures of our children are uncertain
The Climate Crisis is a threat to all: we demand the government to act now
Our Demands
1. That the UK government immediately promises to fully fund and take responsibility for the insulation of all social housing in Britain by 2025;
2. That the UK government immediately promises to produce within four months a legally binding national plan to fully fund and take responsibility for the full low-energy and low-carbon whole-house retrofit , with no externalised costs, of all homes in Britain by 2030 as part of a just transition to full decarbonisation of all parts of society and the economy.
Further information about Insulate Britain and our demands here: https://www.insulatebritain.com/
Technical Report on home energy efficiency here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HtOQmArzkDxhIYJrv9lBcl9lOUwfKoe7/view
[3] https://www.dover.gov.uk/Environment/Energy-Advice/Fuel-Poverty-Strategy.pdf