Passionist priest arrested on 'Insulate Britain' protests

Passionist priest Fr Martin Newell has been involved in five actions over the past two weeks as an 'Insulate Britain' protester, and has been arrested five times, but not charged. He has been involved in blocking the M25 motorway and the main road into Dover. He was one of seven protestors who are also members of Christian Climate Action.

More than 50 protestors were arrested on Monday for blocking the M25 Junction 14 near Heathrow Airport, but have since been released.

Insulate Britain plans to continue until the government agrees to make immediate steps to implement a national scale emergency home insulation programme, starting with social housing. And they point out that November's COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow is a key opportunity to address the climate emergency.

Fr Newell said last week: ''Doing this is difficult because in a very real sense I do not want to be doing it. I do not want to disrupt ordinary people going about their ordinary business. Especially those who are struggling to provide for their families. I can fully understand and accept the anger and frustration of those who see us as merely getting in the way of their struggle to live normal lives. However, the fundamental truth is that the economy, the human family, needs to be disrupted. We cannot go on the way we are. We are killing ourselves, each other and God's creation. Radical conversion always brings with it radical disruption of the way-things-are. And the way things are is already disrupting the lives of millions of people around the world every day. I know this reality closely as a result of living and working with refugees and asylum seekers for more than 15 years.

"I believe it is necessary to do what we are doing because we have used every other method without bringing about the changes that are needed. Petitions have been signed, letters written, marches organised, awareness raised. Virtually every other form of civil disobedience and direct action has been tried.''

Meanwhile, the Anglican Diocese of Oxford has distanced itself from its clergy taking part in Insulate Britain protests on the M25. Rev Tim Hewes, 71, is one of several clergy members to have joined the protests. In a statement posted online, the Diocese of Oxford expressed sympathy with the intention behind the protests, but not the nature. It said: "the recent actions of Revd Hewes and others, while arguably well intentioned, frustrated many people and we're unclear how what they have done drives the urgent change required.''

Insulate Britain protesters have brought parts of the M25 to a standstill several times in the last fortnight by:blocking vehicles from moving.