Nigel Farage has hit out at the selfishness of the two climate protesters who earlier today were removed from the Dartford Crossing bridge and arrested after spending more than 36 hours in hammocks.
The two Just Stop Oil protesters called Marcus and Morgan, scaled the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and released a statement via the Just Stop Oil Twitter page after agreeing to come down: “We successfully disrupted oil supplies to Kent and the South East for 36 hrs.
“We are stepping down now but other supporters of Just Stop Oil will be stepping up day after day, causing disruption and putting their liberty on the line to demand that the government ends new oil and gas.”
The men were taken down separately and then arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit public nuisance.
Nigel Farage has hit out at the 'utter selfishness' of Just Stop Oil protesters who blocked off the Dartford Crossing bridge
GB News
Tonight on Farage, Nigel lambasted the pair, calling them “crackers”.
“Goodness gracious me, when will it ever end?" He said.
“These people are crackers, absolutely crackers. They clearly haven’t heard what the National Grid said today - well you wouldn’t if you were suspended several hundred feet up on a cable over a bridge I suppose!
“The lights are about to go out and yet they’re insisting that we stop any more production of gas or oil.
“What I find extraordinary is the response of the authorities. In the end Essex Police with some very expensive high level kit have taken these two men down, they have been arrested, they will face some charges.
“But to think that for basically 48 hours that bridge has been out of commission, the tailbacks have been six to seven miles long for most of that period of time.
“I wonder how many people missed hospital appointments, how many people missed flights, how many people missed family funerals.
“The utter selfishness of these people is beggars belief.”
He continued: “To me, even if we’d closed the inside lane, to me that bridge should have been kept open.
“The Highways Agency didn’t do so, they said it was too dangerous.
“I’m sorry, those two men that did that knew the risks they were taking.
“We’ve just got to get on with life and now allow a couple of crackpots to disrupt the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.”
National Highways is still to announce when the bridge will reopen.
Just Stop Oil protesters on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex.
Gareth Fuller
Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said: “We cannot tolerate people carrying out activity which puts lives at risk and prevents people from going about their lives.
“I know this has been really frustrating for the public and the disruption has negatively impacted on businesses and meant people have been late for, or missed, appointments.
“Alongside our partners, we worked hard to resolve this complex situation as quickly and safely as possible.
“Now the situation has been resolved, National Highways will make the decision about when and how the bridge can reopen.
“I want to again reiterate, we are not in any way anti-protest, and we will always seek to facilitate safe protest where we can.
“However, it is unacceptable for people to think they can put lives in danger with irresponsible actions. In this case, it is clear that we had to act, but that action had to be safe and responsible, and I want to again thank the public for their patience and understanding.”