Heavy handed police action at Quaker Meeting House.

It's still no reason to burst into what is a peaceful meeting in a place of worship (breaking historically listed doors, btw).

I'm waiting for some more mainstream report (that news report was from rather a dodgy source with its own agenda) because the police action is definitely questionable as far as I'm concerned.

Whitewavemark2

MayBee70

When I was in a multilateral nuclear disarmament group decades ago we used to meet at a Friends Meeting house. They are very anti war. Some of us were convinced our phones were being tapped!

Quakers are and always have been pacifists.

They have been hounded throughout the centuries, - think of the Mayflower.

Were these people Quakers or had they just rented the room?

If Quakers holding a quiet meeting then the police actions would seem to be OTT.

If they had ulterior motives and the police had been alerted by security services then the action is justified.

Whitewavemark2

I stand corrected!

The Quakers left because of religious persecution later in the 17th century.

I got carried away, as we were taught in school - clearly incorrect- that the Mayflower left the Barbican with Quakers on board. I went to school in Plymouth. Teachers are not always correct!!

The ones who left on the Mayflower were Puritans, Separatists from the Church of England.

Which school was it? 😀

They had rented the room Allira

Oreo

They had rented the room Allira

So they were hiding behind the facade of peaceful Quakers. The police had obviously had information about this group and what they were planning, perhaps from the security services.

My Headmistress was a Quaker; she was the first one I ever met.

When I was growing up I thought they’d invented porridge.

It doesn't matter what this group stood for or any connection with Just Stop Oil. The meeting was of a small group of people on private property. They were not demonstrating or doing anything to immediately threaten the peace or obstruct other people going about their lawful business

The only way the police could know what they were discussing is if the room had been bugged.

I think that all religious spaces should be treated with respect and police should only be sent into them in this way if there is an immediate and present danger that those at the meeting were on the point of undertaking an action that would endanger the public and the security of the realm.

Since these people were not armed are prepped in any way for conflict, and had no network just waiting the order to leap into action within minutes if not seconds. This raid was completely unjustifiable.

I would add. I say this, even though I am utterly opposed to these extremists groups and their actions. Justice must be seen to be even handed.

The only way the police could know what they were discussing is if the room had been bugged.

No. The Security Services, if the information came from them, may have been investigating members for a long time and someone may have been a mole.

Its appearing on US news (lots of quakers in USA) CNN now as breaking news so I hope we'll get fuller accurate information in MSM soon
www.aol.com/news/quakers-london-police-arrested-six-223402806.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJKtkBCbrRS2fwa79kCqLuI9U5p9QHWNIM9dLTtiyb-dRVWjOA32rUKmkix_HL9zeKQDKQR3di1ECdmbmDgiHSg0Armi_XQ2zkwJLYWLgC9S9MM5eKgprPgHJHxpNdO9iGt80j9kaR87xHxyOUmiToodnWebCJJ4CX_J9ZT6h-Sb

Quakers are pacifists,though. What right had the police to do this ? Many of my ancestors were Quakers. I think it is horrific. It makes me very,very angry and I am glad I don’t live there because I would be out on the streets protesting about this.

Perhaps read all the posts on the subject?

As I recall a couple of the 'Just stop oil' conspirators who were jailed last year were Quakers. Suddenly it was they'd miss family weddings and how indescribably sad and awful that would be, yet their earlier protests had stopped people attending family funerals, saying goodbye to family members dying etc and were merely termed 'justifiable collateral damage'. Hypocrites of the highest order who get no sympathy from me.
This group's objective was to bring London to a standstill every day in April, they don't give a thought to the grief they cause ordinary Londoners. They never operate on their own doorstep, nor are they the highly moral people they purport to be. They don't give a thought or moment's consideration to those they impact, sometimes for life. Welcome to the real world, actions have consequences.

Yes they were Rosie and very much in the minority because of the consequences for others.

I feel we need more information on this small young group.

Anniebach

Perhaps read all the posts on the subject?

Why?

Quote nanna8 Sat 29-Mar-25 02:35:53
Anniebach
Perhaps read all the posts on the subject?

Why

Why not ?

It is not a question of who these people were, or why they were meeting. It is a queston of whether they were an immediate threat to public order. By that I mean; were they about to come out of the room, go outside and start to vandalise cars, throw paint at people etc etc.

They were not, the building was a religious space. The police action was unjustified until proved otherwise.

This is the group in question; youthdemand.org/

I would suggest the group had been carefully monitored/infiltrated.

It was very naive of the Quakers to allow such a group to use their facilities. ,

Disgusting heavy handed behaviour .
Are we living in a police state ?

Thank you for the link, Sago. The location of the meeting is not the most important issue but what was being planned is. Does anyone know what action the group had in mind? When we do then a judgement can be made about whether the police intervention was justified or not.

Quote M0nica Sat 29-Mar-25 06:44:17
It is not a question of who these people were, or why they were meeting. It is a queston of whether they were an immediate threat to public order. By that I mean; were they about to come out of the room, go outside and start to vandalise cars, throw paint at people etc etc.

They were not, the building was a religious space. The police action was unjustified until proved otherwise.

I don’t know what took place but you are saying
The police must wait until a crime is being committed

As I said on page 1 sago sister group to Stop Oil, with a similar ‘direct action’ history

I find this very worrying. How will the police justify their action? Did they think that the meeting was a front for a terrorist organisation?
There have been several street protests already which have been allowed to go ahead. What was different about this one? Is it because most Quakers are white? Is it ok for Muslims to protest but not Christians? Another example of two-tier Britain?

This whole incident seems very counter productive for the police. The articles have given much greater publicity for the planned events and the location.. Many young people will inevitably now join in solidarity with other young people and the police will be vilified.. Free action.,speech and democracy used to be values that we all fought for and these are being rapidly eroded by a Labour Government.. Our young people should be fighting for The Climate and issues around the terrible desecration of Gaza and any other issue that affects Human Rights....or we will end up with a situation very similar to Russia, China and the USA

That is also true of those protesting issues you don't agree with, anti abortion, etc etc.

The police don't need to wait until a crime is being committed, but they should apply a method that is reasonable, measured and appropriate to the situation.

They could have just rung the door bell rather than forcing their way in. They didn't even try that.