The law has never looked like more of an ass than in the decision by a court to issue an interim driving disqualification to a mother who used her Range Rover gently to nudge Insulate Britain protesters who were blocking the road.

Sherrilyn Speid, 35, of Grays, Essex, pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving when she appeared at Southend Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

She had been on her way to drop her child off at school when she came across an Insulate Britain protest near the M25 last October at about 8.30am.

Two members of the group, wearing high-vis jackets, were seen sitting in front of her vehicle while another stood in front of it, holding on to the bonnet.

The scene was caught on camera by a passer-by and heavily bleeped footage was shown in court in which Ms Speid shouted: “Move out the way. I’m not joking, my son needs to get to school and I need to get to work.”

It is clear whose side the public are on here.

And this applies more generally to the green debate, as well. A recent survey found that nearly half (48 per cent) of the population thinks higher energy bills are not a price worth paying to achieve net zero – compared with just 20 per cent who said they were.

The proportion of those unhappy to pay more to achieve net zero has risen from 40 per cent when Redfield and Wilton Strategies last asked that question in October.

With energy prices up more than 50 per cent from yesterday, the net zero dream is about to become a nightmare for us all.

But do the politicians see that? Of course not. As the public is confronted with the cost of decades of political complacency on energy policy, the consensus in Westminster remains overwhelmingly that net zero must stay.