A new injunction by the Government will ban activities that aim to block motorways and major A roads across England.
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National Highways has been granted a nationwide interim injunction by the High Court targeting any protestors who look to cause disruption on the 4,300 miles of strategic road network in England. The injunction also includes activities that look to damage road surfaces and infrastructure, such as gluing themselves to the carriageway. The penalty for breach of the injunction ranges from imprisonment and/or and unlimited fine.
The latest injection comes in addition to 3 previous ones, including one covering the M25. The Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, said:
"We are making use of every avenue of existing law to try to prevent the continued life-endangering action being carried out by Insulate Britain, which is causing intolerable disruption to motorists’ lives and livelihoods. This new interim injunction will ban activities that obstruct motorways and major A roads across the entire country."
"On top of the immediate measures we’re taking, the long-term solution lies in the changes to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which were set out by the Home Secretary, giving additional powers against disruptive protests which target critical national infrastructure. This includes unlimited fines and prison sentences of up to 6 months for obstructing highways."
In addition, Duncan Smith, Acting Executive Director of Operations at National Highways said,
"This new injunction covering the strategic road network across the country is another step forward in helping to keep these reckless and dangerous protests away from our network and endangering peoples’ lives."
"We continue to serve court papers on those who have breached the previous injunctions. People who breach the injunctions face imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine."
Over 100 activists have been served with court papers in relation to these injunctions, with the possibility of imprisonment and/or a fine if found to be in breach of them. These injunctions look to provide a short-term fix to these disruptive acts, with the Government committed to legislating the prevention of these dangerous acts long-term through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
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