LONDON, UK – A police raid on a group of young women gathered at a central London Quaker meeting house has sparked national debate about protest rights, police overreach, and the criminalization of dissent. As reported by The Guardian on May 5, 2025, the six women were discussing the climate crisis and the war in Gaza in what is traditionally a space of nonviolence and reflection—a Quaker meeting house with centuries-long roots in protest and social justice.
The gathering was abruptly interrupted when up to 30 officers from the Metropolitan Police—some armed with stun guns—stormed the Grade II-listed building, smashing down the door and arresting all six women. According to The Guardian, phones were seized, laptops bagged as evidence, and the young activists, some as young as 18, were detained for hours. One woman, Zahra Ali, was held in a cell for 17 hours, while another was “rear-stacked,” handcuffed behind her back and held against a wall.
The activists are part of Youth Demand, a youth-led group that emerged from the student branch of Just Stop Oil. Despite being a relatively new organization, Youth Demand has staged over two dozen major actions in the past five months. According to Dazed Digital, their protests have included placing rows of children’s shoes outside Labour leader Keir Starmer’s home to symbolize Palestinian child casualties in Gaza.
Police said the arrests were made on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. But critics—including religious leaders, politicians, and activists—have decried the raid’s severity, especially given that it occurred in a place of worship.
Ali, the youngest of the six, questioned the necessity of the forceful action. “They didn’t have to raid us. It’s six young women in a room, in a place that we hired, that we publicly advertised. They could have just sat in and listened to us. I don’t really see any conspiracy in that,” she told The Guardian.
The group’s meeting was anything but secret. The Guardian notes that they had posted publicly on Instagram, distributed flyers, and held weekly welcome talks that were sparsely attended. Ali and others argued that nothing about their gathering justified the scale of the police response.
Youth Demand had openly declared their intent to “shut down London” with protests throughout April. Their demonstrations have included high-profile disruptions, such as throwing red powder paint on Tower Bridge during the London Marathon. Other controversial actions include defecating at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s £2 million Yorkshire estate and spray-painting Labour headquarters red—acts that prompted accusations of “dirty protesting.”
Lia-Anjali Lazarus, a 20-year-old politics and languages student at University College London, described the raid as traumatic. “It felt extremely violating,” she said, adding that it left her feeling paranoid and emotionally shaken.
Paul Parker, the recording clerk for Quakers in Britain, told The Guardian that “no one in living memory” has been arrested inside a Quaker meeting house. Mal Woolford, an elder present during the raid, described the response as “ridiculously heavy-handed.”
“This isn’t just about a single incident,” Woolford continued. “This is about an increasing stamping down on the right to peaceful protest in this country.” Critics point to recent Conservative-led laws restricting protest rights and note that the current Labour government has made no commitments to repeal them.
Five of the six women were released on bail pending further investigation; one will face no further action.
In a statement, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson defended the operation: “We absolutely recognize the importance of the right to protest, but we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality.”
Police argued the raid was necessary to prevent what they described as a conspiracy to block roads and disrupt daily life in London. But the operation has triggered broader fears about the erosion of civil liberties—particularly the sanctity of religious spaces.
As The Guardian noted, the incident sets a “very worrying precedent,” especially in light of government rhetoric claiming to protect faith communities and their places of worship. For many, the heavy-handed tactics used against six young women in a Quaker meeting room now symbolize a deeper conflict over democratic rights in the UK.
