Bristol Friends consider ‘Kill the Bill’ protests
'What can Quakers bring to the table?'
Bristol Quakers are considering what they can do to support nonviolent campaigning against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Several Friends in the city have been taking part in the ‘Kill the Bill’ protests that have been rising up in cities across England and Wales. Quakers including Fran De’Ath joined the local activism, upheld by her Meeting, as well as David Mowat from Central Bristol Meeting, who was invited to act as an observer on 26 March by Friend and experienced legal observer James Deane.
Writing in the Bristol Quakers Area Newsletter, David Mowat describes the scenes he saw at two of the Bristol protests at the end of March, and the anger he witnessed, particularly from some younger protesters. While one protest turned ‘ugly’, the other was more peaceful: ‘There was a shrine for Sarah Everard on College Green with flowers and messages and people standing around in silent respect. I thought about the reasons young people were there, imagining the incarceration of some in student halls of residence during lockdown with no let-up in fees, the accumulation of frustrations.’
‘I wonder what role Quakers might have to play in helping them bridge their anarchism with more mainstream creeds? Are they sheep without a shepherd, moreover sheep who reject the very notion of a shepherd? Or are Friends too comfortable to offer anything of value to them? Their vitality and eagerness to see a world turned upside down, as early Quakers must have felt, is exciting and offers us much I feel.
‘I think that with the broad consensus against Priti Patel’s bill, there’s an opportunity to build a real opposition to this corrupt, nepotistic and careless and authoritarian government. But leaving such young people out into the cold risks ruining everything… Friends, how can we tackle this problem, or take this opportunity?’
Richard Drake, clerk to Bristol Area Meeting, told the Friend that the question ‘remains under consideration’. David Mowat told the Friend that he has helped his Local Meeting write a minute for Area Meeting action. ‘My interest is in what Quakers bring to the table. I hope for instance to offer a “reconciliation laboratory” (something I developed ten or so years ago) on the theme of nonviolence versus “cops are legitimate targets” (to quote a graffiti I saw today) as a way of engaging some sections of young people, at some point.’
Writing in the Quakers in Britain blog, Grace Da Costa, public affairs and advocacy manager for Britain Yearly Meeting, outlines what action Friends can take to campaign against the bill.
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