Britain's Home Secretary Priti Patel on Tuesday announced her plan to increase maximum penalties for disrupting a motorway as protests from climate change groups have continued in recent days. In her speech during the Conservative Party conference, Patel said she will also "criminalize interference with key infrastructure" such as roads, railways and news press. The home secretary said she will give the police and courts new powers to handle the "small minority of offenders intent on travelling around the country, causing disruption and misery across our communities". She said the freedom to protest is a "fundamental right" but "must be within the law". The new measures are to be included in the Police, Crime, Courts and Sentencing Bill currently going through Parliament, according to the BBC. Climate protesters blocking roads in Britain have previously been warned that they could face fines and up to six months in prison. Protests from the group Insulate Britain have continued in recent days, as protesters blocked the M25 and other major roads in London, asking the British government to insulate all British homes by 2030 to help cut carbon emissions. The campaign has led to hundreds of arrests. "We have tried lobbying, we have tried targeting political leaders, government departments, people have been doing this for two, three, four, five decades, without any success at all," one activist told the BBC. "We know through history that disruptive direct actions work. The government are forcing our hand because they are not taking the biggest threat to humanity seriously," the activist was quoted as saying. — Agencies
