Boris Johnson has branded eco protesters glueing themselves to roads “irresponsible crusties”.
The prime minister took aim at Insulate Britain activists who have caused disruption on major roads over recent weeks.
It comes as home secretary Priti Patel is expected to announce today that courts will be given new powers to stop activists attending demonstrations.
Earlier this week a driver was filmed pleading with protesters by the Blackwall Tunnel to make way for her so she could visit her elderly mother in hospital. “How can you be so selfish?” the driver asked.
Johnson told LBC’s Nick Ferrari: “There are some people who call those individuals legitimate protesters.
“They are not. I think they are irresponsible crusties who are basically trying to stop people going about their day’s work and doing considerable damage to the economy.
“That is why we have taken the powers and why Priti Patel is doing the right thing to bring in powers so they can get six months or an unlimited fine.”
38 Insulate Britain protestors were arrested on Monday after they blocked traffic at four points across the capital.
Policing minister Kit Malthouse said the group had been slipping through a “legal loophole” but officers would be given greater powers to deal with them.
Speaking about footage of a paramedic dragging some of the protesters out of a London road, Malthouse told Sky News: “This is really distressing stuff that’s emerging now.
“While we obviously all value the right to protest, there is a difference between causing disruption and causing damage.
“We believe that these protesters and some of the others that we’ve seen in the last couple of years have crossed the line between exercising their right but also their responsibility towards the rest of us, and something needs to be done.”
He said the government would announce a “raft of new measures” on Tuesday that will “help deal with this problem”.
Malthouse said they would specifically recognise the disruption to infrastructure and the strategic road network.
The prime minister’s father Stanley Johnson also hit out at the tactics used by Insulate Britain.
The international ambassador for the Conservative Environment Network told Sky News: “Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain are making a mistake if they think antagonising people, ordinary people, is going to help the cause.
“It is not a good idea, it needs to stop.
“Whether it needs to stop by legal means, I do not know, but I’m simply saying as a matter of practical politics, those who lead Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain need to realise that this is not actually going to advance the cause they’re seeking to support.”