Churches Together in England have received written responses from the Metropolitan Police and the Home Office.
Following the events on 27 March 2025, CTE General Secretary Bishop Mike Royal wrote an open letter to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, expressing the churches’ dismay at the police raid.
See the original letter (pdf) sent on 10 April 2025.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner
The following response was received from Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Pippa Mills on 22 April:
Dear Bishop Mike Royal,
Thank you for your letter raising concerns about the arrests that were made inside Westminster Quaker House in March 2025. I have spoken to the senior police public order Commander for that evening, who was in charge of the operation, they have provided me with the following information.
I acknowledge the strength of feeling and concerns that Churches Together and your community have raised. It is important that I set out some wider context for this policing activity. There has been a number of large scale protests within London over the last few years. With any protest event, the police have obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998 to ensure· members of the public can discharge their right to protest peacefully whilst balancing the impact that the protest has on the safety and rights of the wider public. This is an ongoing and dynamic responsibility and at times police have used various powers to achieve this balance. The MPS recognises the importance of the right to protest.
However, we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses from protest into serious disruption and other criminality. Recent outcomes at court have demonstrated how seriously the judicial system takes this level of activity. The MPS has no influence on where campaign groups are holding their planning meetings, and must therefore act accordingly in order to make arrests. The action undertaken was proportionate, and given the nature of the location, particular attention was given to assessing potential impact of where the intervention took place.
As part of the operational consideration, the MPS ensured that there were no services taking place at that time, although other events coincided with the raid. lt represented the best opportunity to locate a number of Youth Demand members in one place, and seize evidence, and was therefore considered to be proportionate. This was explained in detail at the time to members of the Quaker community. The decision to force entry was necessary in order to gain fast time access and secure evidence.
I also want to clarify that proactive policing is a key part of the strategy that we have in place to ensure that we limit criminal activity that can occur at protest events. With tough financial choices on our horizon, it’s important that we keep London safe, whilst having an awareness of the expenditure on policing resources.
We acknowledge the concerns that you have raised, I hope the above provides some of the wider context for the operational activity and our approach. Whilst we are satisfied that our action was reasonable and proportionate, we will reflect on the concerns you have expressed in the planning of future operations.
Yours sincerely
Pippa Mills
Assistant Commissioner
Met Operations & Performance
Home Office response
The original letter was also copied to the Home Secretary Rt Hon Yvette Cooper and Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan. The following response was received from the Home Office on 30 April:
Dear Ms Shannon,
Thank you for your email of 10 April to the Home Secretary raising concerns about a Metropolitan Police Service raid at a Quaker Meeting House in Westminster on 27 March. As I am sure you will appreciate, the Home Secretary receives a large amount of correspondence and is unable to respond to each item individually. Your email has been passed to the Direct Communications Unit for a response.
On 27 March, officers raided a Youth Demand planning meeting at an address in St Martin’s Lane, Westminster, where those in attendance were reported to be discussing and coordinating their April protest activity. The Minister of State for Policing and Crime Prevention was in contact with the Metropolitan Police Service and received a detailed briefing on this case over the ensuing weekend.
Six people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance was introduced as an offence in Section 78 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. Five of those arrested have been released on bail and one will face no further action.
We understand there have been criticisms of the actions of the police that these were excessive or inappropriate. We also note that this is reported to be the first time arrests have been made at a Quaker Meeting House – albeit we understand the individuals arrested were using the space for their meeting, and they were not there as worshippers.
In December 2024, Youth Demand stated an intention to ‘shut down’ London over the month of April using tactics including ‘swarming’ and roadblocks, much of it focused on the Government Security Zone (GSZ). They called for protesters to join their biggest disobedience campaign yet to force action from the “criminal British government”.
The right to peaceful protest is a fundamental part of our democratic society. It is a long-standing tradition in this country that people are free to gather and to demonstrate their views, if they do so within the law. However, this does not extend to behaviour that is violent or causes harassment, alarm or distress to others.
I trust you can appreciate that Home Office Ministers and officials are unable to intervene in, or comment on, individual cases and complaints against the police. This is not through any lack of concern, but due to the risk of undermining the principle that the police are operationally independent of government.
The Government takes police integrity very seriously. It lies at the heart of public confidence in the police and is what gives rank and file officers the legitimacy to do their jobs effectively. Police complaints are dealt with under a comprehensive legislative framework which sets out the duties of the police themselves in handling complaints as well as the role and functions of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the body which provides oversight of police complaints and investigates the most serious and sensitive matters involving the police.
If you are unhappy with the police response to this incident, you may wish to consider submitting a complaint which should be made directly to the relevant police force. Police force websites include information about how to complain, and a complaint can also be made via an online form available on the website of the IOPC at: https://policeconduct.gov.uk/complaints/submit-a-complaint.
A short guide to the police complaints system is also available on the IOPC’s website at: www.policeconduct.gov.uk/complaints/guide-to-complaints-process
I trust this clarifies the Government’s position.
Yours sincerely,
A Gomes
Direct Communications Unit
