Take Back Power, the activist group seen as the successor to Just Stop Oil, has announced plans to carry out mass shoplifting raids on Waitrose stores in London. The group intends to steal food from the upmarket supermarket chain and redistribute it to local communities as part of a campaign against inequality. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused the group of 'trying to dress up criminality with some kind of moral purpose'.
At the group's official launch at Limehouse Town Hall, co-founder Arthur Clifton, a former leading figure in Just Stop Oil, outlined the first of three tactics for spring. Speaking to about 200 activists, he said the plan involved a series of 'take backs', explaining: 'We have seen that food is locked behind skyrocketing prices. Less and less people can afford less and less food. So what we do is actually pretty obvious - we go in there, we take it out and we redistribute it to the local community.' He added that in April, they would stage a 'massive take back' with up to 100 people clearing out a Waitrose.
The group burst onto the scene in December with two high-profile stunts. Four members smeared crumble over the case housing the State Crown at the Tower of London, displaying a banner declaring 'Democracy has crumbled - tax the rich'. Days later, activists dumped bags of manure beneath a 25ft Christmas tree at the Ritz hotel in central London to protest wealth inequality. Clifton also revealed plans to occupy luxury shops around Oxford Circus, describing it as 'standard, bread and butter civil resistance occupation'.
Clifton, who studied English literature at Exeter University and has previous convictions for criminal damage, confirmed the movement would continue staging attention-grabbing protests. Drawing parallels with the Suffragettes, he rallied supporters with chants of 'revolution'. The organisation aims to get 10,000 demonstrators onto the streets by the 2029 general election, with more than £57,000 raised so far. The group's budget includes £26,000 for public meetings and training sessions, £20,000 to compensate new activists, and £12,000 for accommodation.
Clifton invoked the Sudanese revolution as inspiration, saying they trained for years until a 2018 uprising succeeded. He also cited the Suffragettes, who held meetings at the same east London venue a century earlier. The long-term vision involves working with political parties such as the Green Party and Your Party, and possibly establishing an alternative 'House of the People' with representatives chosen by random selection.
