Insulate Britain: Protesters block Westminster Bridge and Parliament Square

Insulate Britain activists have blocked two roads around Parliament Square in Westminster during rush house this morning.

Around 62 protesters glued themselves to the tarmac, from around 9am, preventing MPs from driving into the House of Commons.

One of the groups blocked traffic between the Houses of Parliament and Parliament Square, while the other to the north of Westminster Bridge.

The Met Police arrived quickly on the scene, removing glue from protesters hands, and have arrested 59 protesters.

Scotland Yard said: “We are continuing to respond to a protest in Parliament Square this morning where a number of activists have sat on the road, blocking traffic.

“Officers are on scene and are working as quickly as possible to get traffic flowing again.

“Around 40 activists have used superglue to stick to the ground, frustrating and delaying our response.

“Specialist teams are on scene and train for this scenario.

“They are working to remove any glue and make arrests.

“This process can take time.

“Insulate Britain has the right to assemble and protest, however they do not have the right to cause serious disruption to London and prevent others from going about their business.”

The roads were reopened by 2pm.

Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said it is “totally unacceptable” Insulate Britain is “interfering with democracy” after Conversative MP Darren Henry was unable to enter Parliament and participate in transport questions due to being "trapped outside" by the group.

He told MPs: "We have got a slight problem.

“Darren Henry is trapped outside because Insulate Britain has blocked the access to the House.

"This is totally unacceptable.

“This is interfering with democracy.

“This is not what should happen and it is a tragedy that those constituents are not going to be represented by the member for Broxtowe."

This is environmental activists’ 19th action of civil unrest, over the last seven weeks.

There are currently four court injunctions in place which prohibits the group from blocking traffic on any road network in England.

Insulate Britain says 161 people have taken part in their campaign, with a total of 770 arrests – meaning the average activist has been arrested nearly five times.

Nine members will appear at the High Court on November 16, while a further 23 supporters, who have also openly defied one or more of the four recent injunctions, are expected to be summoned to court in the coming days.

The group are demanding that the government insulate all of Britain’s homes by 2030 to cut carbon emissions.

Figures obtained by LBC show the demonstrations cost the Metropolitan Police nearly £2million in the first four weeks of the group’s activity.

Andy Trotter, former Deputy Assistant Commissioner at the Metropolitan Police, said it’s a "shocking use of public money that could easily have been used for something better".