Nine arrested in police crackdown

by New Worker correspondent

Police repression has reached a new level after a meeting of a youth-led environmental and political activist group was broken up  and a number of houses of their supporters were raided last week. Over 20 Metropolitan Police officers crashed into a Youth Demand Welcome Talk at a Quaker meeting room in London and arrested six people for conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. In separate incidents  three other Youth Demand supporters were arrested in other parts the country. Youth Demand, which was established in January 2024, is part of a co-ordinating committee called Umbrella that includes three other direct action protest groups.  
Quakers in Britain said police officers, some equipped with tasers, forced their way into the Westminster Quaker Meeting House just before 7:15 pm. Officers reportedly “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 Met told the media that "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 right to protest, we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality”.
The Quakers have condemned the raid saying they “support the right to non-violent public protest, acting themselves from a deep moral imperative to stand up against injustice and for our planet. Many have taken non-violent direct action over the centuries from the abolition of slavery to women's suffrage and prison reform”.
The Welcome Talk is an opportunity to share information about the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank and about the mass killing that is being imposed on vulnerable people across the globe as a result of the accelerating climate crisis. It is also an opportunity to share plans for non-violent civil resistance actions to take place in April.
One of those arrested was Ella Grace-Taylor, a student, who said “At this point, it couldn’t be clearer that we are in a police state. Our politicians will stand by as police engage in mass arrests and imprisonment of anyone who speaks out against the government for being responsible for genocide. By arming Israel and refusing to call what is happening a genocide, they are perpetrating mass slaughter.  Hundreds of children were killed in Palestine in the last week. We won’t stop saying it. We won’t be intimidated.“.
A Youth Demand spokesperson said “it’s clear that the government sees Youth Demand as a threat. They know that we are right.  There are thousands of young people who are horrified by what the government is doing to facilitate genocide and who know that they have been betrayed as their future is fucked. We will not be silenced. Young people all over the country are coming together to shut London down day after day throughout April. Sign up for action at Youth Demand.Org 
“We refuse to be ruled by liars, war criminals and arsonists. We will not let them get away with this. We refuse to be ignored. It’s time for young people to take to the streets day after day and shut London down. Only sustained mass resistance can put an end to genocide. By standing together we can grind the murder machine to a standstill”.