A POLICE raid on a Quaker meeting house in central London on Thursday evening has drawn condemnation from politicians and charities, and prompted criticism of the present law on protests.
Six women were arrested in the course of the raid, before later being released at no cost. They were participating in a gathering of the activist group Youth Demand, which is planning protests this month in regards to the changing climate and Gaza. The group shouldn’t be formally affiliated with the Quaker movement, but had hired a room for that evening’s meeting.
A spokesperson for Quakers in Britain said that the raid took place shortly before 7.15 p.m. More than 20 uniformed law enforcement officials, some carrying tasers, broke through the door of Westminster Meeting House, without ringing the bell first.
One of the ladies who were arrested told The Sunday Times: “An officer grabbed my arm, turned me around to face the wall and placed me in handcuffs. Some of the others were sitting down, not doing anything, not resisting, and so they were also put in cuffs.”
She said that she was held in police custody for greater than 12 hours without with the ability to make a call, before being released at no cost. While she was being held, her student accommodation was searched by police, she said.
An elder of the Westminster Quaker Meeting, Mal Woolford, was on the positioning on the time of the raid, and characterised the raid as “ridiculously heavy-handed”.
“Apparently not all of [the women] were even involved with the organisation, they were just curious, and so they ended up in handcuffs,” he told The Sunday Times.
Mal Woolford said that he “had all types of conflicting feelings of shock of why they were here, why there have been so lots of them, but I desired to keep the situation calm. The only resistance I could put up was to make tea and drink it in front of them without offering them any.”
On Friday, the recording clerk for Quakers in Britain, Paul Parker, condemned the raid, calling it an “aggressive violation of our place of worship”.
“No one has been arrested in a Quaker meeting house in living memory,” he said, and drew attention to laws passed up to now three years which restricts the best to protest.
The head of witness and worship for Quakers in Britain, Oliver Robertson, taking this point further on Tuesday, called for the law to be reformed.
“This raid shouldn’t be an isolated incident. It reflects a growing trend of excessive policing under latest laws brought in by the previous government, which are actually being enforced by the present administration,” he said.
“This is in regards to the sort of country, the sort of world, we wish to live in. Quakers imagine that each one persons are equal, and for that to be a reality, we want laws that enable participation somewhat than suppress it.”
A former Conservative Party minister, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, also criticised the actions of the police. “There has long been a convention on this country of taking a view that religious spaces shouldn’t be invaded by the forces of law and order unless absolutely essential,” he said on Monday.
The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, was asked in regards to the raid on Sunday. The police had “operational independence”, she said, and declined to comment specifically on Thursday’s raid.
Christian Aid’s Head of UK Advocacy and Campaigns, Jennifer Larbie, said that the charity was “very concerned” in regards to the raid and “stands in solidarity with those committed to peaceful, nonviolent motion towards global justice.
“Like many faith communities, Westminster Quakers offered their spiritual home as a secure space for those working for peace — a straightforward act of hope in a broken world. The raid is a worrying sign of the criminalisation of protest within the UK and sends a chilling message to young individuals who wish to use their voice to demand change for good.”
Youth Demand is planning a month of protests in London, starting on Tuesday. The group is asking for a trade embargo on Israel and increased taxes on the “super wealthy and fossil fuel elite”.
More than 200 people have been in touch because the police raid to specific interest in joining the actions, the group says.
Other members of the group have been arrested in recent days, The Guardian reports. Eddie Whittingham, who was arrested at home in Exeter last week, told the newspaper: “It’s sort of baffling but additionally affirming that the police imagine a bunch of young people taking actions like this are definitely worth the type of resources they’re devoting to those raids.”
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “Youth Demand have stated an intention to ‘shut down’ London over the month of April using tactics including ‘swarming’ and road blocks.
“While we absolutely recognise the importance of the best to protest, now we have a responsibility to intervene to forestall activity that crosses the road from protest into serious disruption and other criminality.”
