Scottish PEN condemns the recent police raid on the Quaker Meeting House, central London, on Thursday 27th March 2025. This raid and the subsequent arrest of 6 young women is deplorable and constitutes a violation of human rights, freedom of expression, the right to protest and is, additionally, a violation of a place of worship.
April 15, 2025Scottish PEN condemns the recent police raid on the Quaker Meeting House, central London, on Thursday 27th March 2025. This raid and the subsequent arrest of 6 young women is deplorable and constitutes a violation of human rights, freedom of expression, the right to protest and is, additionally, a violation of a place of worship.
The violent forced entry of the police, some armed with taser guns, stands in stark contrast to the Quakers’ commitment to peace through non-violent means.
The reason given by the police for their excessive actions relies on suspicion rather than evidence of any wrongdoing.[i] That this is extremely alarming is an understatement. We are now witnessing the Thought Police at work. The meeting inside the Quaker Meeting House was organised and publicly advertised by Youth Demand, a non-violent resistance group opposing fossil fuels and British arms exports to Israel. The police reaction to a democratic gathering at a place of worship must be strongly opposed at every level.
Having forced their way into the Quaker Meeting House, the police proceeded to seize devices belonging to the people present, without providing any legal justification for doing so. The following day, the police arrested a further 5 people for the same alleged offence – ‘suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.’[ii]
The criminalisation of protest, including, in this case, pre-criminalisation, has observed a marked increase since the genocide in Palestine began. Journalists and activists have been detained, arrested, and had their homes raided.[iii] Protesters allegedly engaged in direct action have been imprisoned.[iv] Police in Scotland and the wider UK have used violence against peaceful protesters opposing the worst crime against humanity: genocide.[v]
Scottish PEN stands in absolute opposition to such violent and unjustified actions by the police in what is a disturbing erosion of our human rights. Scottish PEN stands in solidarity with the Quakers, Youth Demand, and with all those whose resistance to repression and wrongdoing has been met with such intolerable force by the powers of the state.
We also stand in solidarity with our Vice President, Dr Lizzie Eldridge, who is about to go on trial charged with obstruction and breach of the peace following a peaceful protest outside Barclays Bank in Glasgow last November.
[i] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/mar/29/met-raids-quaker-meeting-house-and-arrests-six-women-at-youth-demand-talk
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Examples include Craig Murray, Richard Medhurst, Sarah Wilkinson, Asa Winstanley, David Miller, Mick Napier.
[iv] This includes activists connected with Palestine Action, Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion.
[v] https://www.thenational.scot/news/24461701.violent-police-scotland-response-palestine-protest-condemned/