‘Robin Hood’ activists raid supermarkets and hand out food in coordinated action across UK
Activists from campaign group Take Back Power removed boxes of food from supermarkets in four UK cities, saying the action was intended to highlight rising hunger and extreme wealth
Activists staged coordinated supermarket raids across Britain this morning, walking out with boxes of groceries and redistributing them to food banks and local communities.
Supporters of campaign group Take Back Power targeted supermarkets in Manchester, London, Exeter and Truro, filling boxes with food and household essentials before leaving the stores without paying.
Tax extreme wealth
The group describes itself as a nonviolent civil resistance movement and says it is demanding the Government create a “House of the People”, a permanent citizen-led assembly with powers to tax extreme wealth.
From around 8.30am, small teams entered supermarkets across the four cities and began placing goods into cardboard boxes labelled: “These things are going to those that need them.”
They then left the shops and delivered the items to nearby food bank drop-off points.
In Exeter, five supporters entered the Morrisons supermarket on Prince Charles Road and filled five boxes with produce. Security staff intervened before they could leave, confiscating two of the boxes.
The remaining three boxes were taken away and later dropped at a local food bank collection point.
Meanwhile in London, two activists walked out of a Sainsbury’s in the Lewisham Centre with boxes of food before setting up a stall outside the store to give the items back to members of the public.
Security staff arrived shortly afterwards and police attended the scene at around 9.50am. No arrests had been made and the activists left the area at around 10am.
In Manchester, three supporters filled boxes with groceries at the Tesco store on Parrs Wood Lane in Didsbury. All three left the shop without incident before redistributing the food at a food bank drop-off point inside a nearby Aldi.
Further south in Truro, two supporters loaded boxes with goods from the Sainsbury’s on Treyew Road and left the items at the store’s own food bank collection point.
Food poverty in Britain
A spokesperson for Take Back Power said the action was intended to highlight the scale of food poverty in Britain.
They said: “It is sickening that 6.5 million people in the UK are forced to turn to food banks every year and a third of children under five are living in homes where there is insufficient access to nutritious food.”
The spokesperson added: “This is because our country is in crisis, with billionaires hoarding wealth, whilst ordinary people suffer. We need to tax extreme wealth to fix Britain.”
Among those taking part was Eve Middleton, 25, from Manchester.
She said: “I refuse to sit by while billionaires hoard wealth and capture our democracy.”
Middleton added: “Taxing the super rich is the first simple step to solving these crises.”
Another participant, Ruth Cook, a 74-year-old company director from Somerset, said she was prepared to risk arrest to highlight the issue.
She said: “I’m taking this action and risking arrest because we have a terrible situation in this country. Families are struggling and children are going hungry, while the profits some companies make are obscene.”
Police crackdown
Today’s actions come in the wake of police activity connected to the movement.
Last week officers raided a Quakers meeting house during a nonviolence training session and arrested 15 people. Another person was arrested at their home on Thursday and the homes of seven supporters have reportedly been searched in connection with the campaign.
Campaigners say their protests are driven by what they describe as a deepening hunger crisis in Britain.
According to figures cited by the group, 14 million people in the UK faced the prospect of going hungry last year due to lack of money, while 6.5 million people turned to food banks in 2024.
Take Back Power says it will continue carrying out non-violent actions until the Government responds to its demand for a citizen-led “House of the People” with powers to tax extreme wealth.