A POLICE raid on a Quaker meeting house in central London on Thursday evening has drawn condemnation from politicians and charities, and prompted criticism of the current law on protests. The group is not formally affiliated with the Quaker movement, but had hired a room for that evening’s meeting. An elder of the Westminster Quaker Meeting, Mal Woolford, was on the site at the time of the raid, and characterised the raid as “ridiculously heavy-handed”. “No one has been arrested in a Quaker meeting house in living memory,” he said, and drew attention to legislation passed in the past three years which restricts the right to protest. “Like many faith communities, Westminster Quakers offered their spiritual home as a safe space for those working for peace — a simple act of hope in a broken world.

Source: The Times April 01, 2025 12:11 UTC