Questions raised by Met police raid on Quaker meeting house
I represent a non-Quaker spiritual group with a longstanding arrangement to meet twice a week at the Westminster Quaker meeting house in London, from which building six female members of a youth protest group were recently arrested by means of violent forced entry (Report, 30 March).
A symptom often felt by people who are burgled is that their personal space has been invaded. When those who commit violence are those whose role is to protect us, it is doubly shattering. We were not present when the forced entry took place, yet the manner of it leaves us with a feeling of devastation and destruction of so much of what we have created. Of course it will be argued that the invasion of the space was a necessary evil, but I have to state with force that what we now suffer is real hurt, whereas the prevention of resistance in London is harm as yet not done.
While I have plenty of sympathy with the impossible, and quite likely painful, decision made by the police, places of real quiet and sanctuary are deeply needed in our society, and their invasion cannot be passed off as a necessary evil. Violence is violence, whoever commits it, and there is real loss here, real suffering, and real grief.Colum HaywardBarnes, London
The fact that I am in the House of Lords is undoubtedly linked to attending a Quaker school for seven years, where the notions of public service, non-violence and a belief in community were a paramount theme running through school life and lessons. Quakers have been at the forefront of many radical changes for the better, such as abolition of slavery and prison reform. The Youth Demand members who were the subject of a police raid continue a tradition.
This Labour government must not continue down the repressive route of the last government. We must take the opportunity to roll back the excesses of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023. Sue MillerLiberal Democrat, House of Lords
I suggest that Youth Demand hold their next meeting in Canterbury Cathedral. The optics of the agents of the crown forcing their way into that place of worship might be too much, even in these benighted days.Alastair CameronEdinburgh
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Telegraph
a day ago
- Telegraph
House of Lords removes ‘provocative' Pride flags from canteen
The House of Lords has removed Pride flags from its canteen following a complaint by a peer. At the start of June, the River Restaurant was decked out in the banners to celebrate the beginning of Pride month. However, among the banners used was the ' Progress Pride ' flag, which includes the colours of the trans movement and is seen by many as indicative of support for gender ideology – the idea that sex is a spectrum and that people can change their identity. Baroness Nicholson, a Tory peer, complained to the Lord Speaker, Lord McFall, and officials agreed that they should be taken down as they had not been sanctioned by the authorities. Similar flags were not displayed in the House of Commons canteen. Helen Joyce, the director of advocacy at the Sex Matters charity, said the decision to display the flags was 'provocative and inappropriate', and that it was 'reassuring' they had been taken down. 'The baby blue and pink of trans activism, which features in the flag, signals support for a harmful fringe ideology that justifies a wide range of human rights abuses, including puberty blockers for minors, surgeries that leave people sterile, the placement of rapists in women's prisons, and the destruction of single-sex services and spaces,' she said. Critics advocate separating trans and gay rights The Progress Pride flag, designed in 2021, is replacing the traditional rainbow Pride flag in many venues. It includes an extra triangle of colour on the left hand side, made up of stripes including white, pink and light blue – the colours of the trans movement. But many critics say the trans rights movement should be decoupled entirely from the gay rights movement, using the phrase 'LGB without the T'. The flag also includes a yellow triangle with a purple circle to represent 'intersex' people – a classification which is rejected by many. On Wednesday, Lady Nicholson tweeted pictures of the flags in the River Restaurant, which were displayed over the cooked breakfast items on sale, on the social media platform X. When one user replied to say that they supported 'LGB without the T', she tweeted: 'Exactly.' The flags had been removed by Friday lunchtime, following Lady Nicholson's complaint to the Lord Speaker's Office. On Friday, she tweeted: 'The superb River Restaurant in the House of Lords has had the decorations that I pictured removed. 'The food remains as stunning as before. I am most grateful to the Lord Speaker for his swift and thoughtful response to my request. I respect all people in all walks of life always.' Lady Nicholson was a Conservative MP between 1987 and 1995, when she made a high-profile defection to the Liberal Democrats in protest at John Major's policies. She was made a peer in 1997 and later served as a member of the European Parliament for the Lib Dems. She returned to the Tory fold in 2016. During her time in Parliament, she voted in favour of Section 28, which banned the 'promotion of homosexuality' by local authorities, and against gay marriage. 'Do pronouns get you a bigger plate of beans?' A number of users on X responded to her picture of the flags. Sean Ako said: 'As a gay man I find this to be incredibly dehumanising. Can't I have my breakfast in peace without having a flag waved in my face? I don't need to be celebrated first thing in the morning. I need to be caffeinated.' Clean City Bird wrote: 'Honestly, what has the progress flag or same-sex attraction got to do with having breakfast? Do you get a bigger portion if you state your pronouns while they plate your beans?' Margaret Kearney said: 'Think about the flags as you eat breakfast or have tea and toast. For some it could be a turn-off to eat anything. These flags have taken over everything. Thanks Emma for letting us know about this.' A spokesman for the House of Lords said it had not been the Lord Speaker who had personally intervened. 'Informal decorations were put up locally to mark the beginning of Pride month,' he said. 'These were taken down at an appropriate point due to their unofficial nature.'
