Quakers organise worship outside New Scotland Yard in response to Meeting House raid

Tuesday 1st April 2025

In response to the police raid on the Westminster Meeting House on the 27th March, Quakers are inviting people to join them on Thursday 3rd April

Quakers in Britain strongly condemned the violation of their place of worship which they say is a direct result of stricter protest laws removing virtually all routes to challenge the status quo.

Just before 7.15pm more than 20 uniformed police, some equipped with tasers, forced their way into Westminster Meeting House.

They broke open the front door without warning or ringing the bell first, searching the whole building and arresting six women attending the meeting in a hired room.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023 have criminalised many forms of protest and allow police to halt actions deemed too disruptive.

Meanwhile, changes in judicial procedures limit protesters' ability to defend their actions in court. All this means that there are fewer and fewer ways to speak truth to power.

Quakers support the right to nonviolent public protest, acting themselves from a deep moral imperative to stand up against injustice and for our planet.

Many have taken nonviolent direct action over the centuries from the abolition of slavery to women's suffrage and prison reform.

Paul Parker, recording clerk for Quakers in Britain, said: “No-one has been arrested in a Quaker meeting house in living memory.

“This aggressive violation of our place of worship and the forceful removal of young people holding a protest group meeting clearly shows what happens when a society criminalises protest.

“Freedom of speech, assembly, and fair trials are an essential part of free public debate which underpins democracy."

In response to this the Quakers have organised an hour of Worship at New Scotland Yard on the 4th April, those who are unable to attend in person can attend online.

Quaker Meeting for Worship
Thursday 3rd April
meeting at Chindit Memorial, Embankment Gardens at 11.45 before moving to
New Scotland Yard from 12.00 - 1.00 for the Meeting for Worship

and online from 12.00 on Zoom at
https://quaker.zoom.us/j/84229346924
Meeting ID: 842 2934 6924

All are welcome.