Shut The System (STS) activists smashed windows and sprayed blood-red paint at the offices of the right-wing think-tank, Policy Exchange, on Old Queen Street in Westminster on Friday 29 August.

Policy Exchange: activists stick it to right-wing think tank

The activists oppose Policy Exchange’s advocacy for increasingly authoritarian restrictions on human rights such as the right to free speech and the right to assemble. These include new laws to clamp down on legitimate climate protest and the proscription of Palestine Action. The direct action organisation has no convictions for violent offences.

A spokesperson from the Palestine faction of STS said:

Policy Exchange’s malign influence suppressing effective protest is unsurprising considering the reported $30k donation to Policy Exchange by ExxonMobil. We have targeted Policy Exchange today not in response to any particular action, but in recognition of the role they have played in making the UK the less tolerant, more unequal, increasingly authoritarian and poorly governed nation it is today.

Policy Exchange has advocated for and assisted the government to draft legislation. In particular, it has influenced elements seeking to restrict the effectiveness of climate-related protest, as revealed by Rishi Sunak while serving as prime minister.

The STS spokesperson continued:

Policy Exchange’s corrupt entanglement with governments and elites directly suppresses the proud tradition that champions women’s suffrage, the end to apartheid in South Africa, toppled the injust Poll Tax and held the government accountable for prosecuting illegal wars.

Anti-protest law à la Policy Exchange

Policy Exchange lobbied for additional anti-protest laws in the Public Order Act 2023. These created new offences enabling easier prosecution for protest tactics such as locking-on, tunnelling, and even peaceful protest marches.

In the Public Order Act, former home secretary Suella Braverman attempted to introduce a vague definition of ‘serious disruption’ as anything that is “more than minor”. When parliament blocked this attempt, the home secretary used obscure powers to introduce this definition by the back door. The Divisional Court subsequently found this unconstitutional, in a case brought by Liberty.

The STS spokesperson explained:

The authoritarian agenda advocated by Policy Exchange and its attempt to equate protest with extremism has emboldened multiple governments to adopt policies which would have been unthinkable in the UK only a decade ago, not least labelling Palestine Action as terrorists. Protest and direct action are not extremist activities, they are an essential aspect of any functioning democracy.

The action contributes to an escalating ‘summer of sabotage’ that Shut The System on Monday declared on 18 August. To launch it, activists cut electric cables and communications at offices of JP Morgan Chase, Barclays, and Allianz, three of the world’s worst financial backers of fossil fuel expansion and arms Israel is using in the genocide in Gaza. Activists took further action at a Barclay’s branch in Oxford, smashing windows.

Featured image via the Canary