Meeting for Sufferings: Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill
'Right now the government was trying to divide the opposition, and Friends needed to act.'
Friends in Surrey and Hampshire sent a minute to MfS about the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which is currently before parilament. They were ‘very concerned’ about ‘the impact on freedom of assembly and of expression, and the right to peaceful protest’. Recording clerk Paul Parker presented a report from BYM’s public affairs and advocacy manager, Grace Da Costa, which outlined the ongoing Quaker response. It was a wide-ranging bill, he said, which made it difficult to oppose. But Friends were working with other organisations to build resistance. He hoped that MfS would be able to help frame this opposition in faith terms, to avoid seeming simply political.
One Friend spoke of the Society’s historical commitment to democracy, gaining rights such as jury trials. Another reminded attendees that, for Quakers, moral conscience was above the law. A further Friend spoke of taking action against the Arms Fair, and feeling a connection back to Margaret Fell. ‘MfS needs to defend our freedom’, she said.
A representative from south east England said that Quakers were good at asking questions. It might be possible to avoid the risk of being too political if we tried to discover why the bill’s advocates were in favour of it. Then it might be possible to unpick their evidence.
Another described how the bill was trying to divide people, which was like a colonisation process. But Jesus’ instruction was to love your brothers and sisters. The apostle Paul also spent a lot of time trying to avoid division, he said. Right now the government was trying to divide the opposition, and Friends needed to act.
This was affirming to hear, said Paul Parker. He was reminded of Thomas Penny’s Swarthmore Lecture on finding kinder ground, and spoke of holding to Quaker principles while meeting those who disagree where we can. This wasn’t yet getting us where we wanted to be, but it was important to do it.
