UK – Activists associated with Take Back Power carried out coordinated actions across four cities this morning, redistributing food from supermarkets to local food-bank drop-off points. The nonviolent civil-resistance group is demanding that the UK government establish a permanent citizen-led assembly, or ‘House of the People,’ with the power to tax extreme wealth.

From around 8:30 a.m., teams in Manchester, London, Exeter, and Truro entered supermarkets and placed food and necessities into boxes labeled, “These things are going to those that need them.” The activists left the shops without paying for the items and transported the boxes to food-bank collection points.

In Exeter, a group of five took five boxes from Morrison’s supermarket on Prince Charles Road; security intercepted two boxes, but the remaining three were delivered successfully. In London, two activists set up a stall outside Sainsbury’s in Lewisham to distribute food, leaving the site around 10 a.m. after police and security arrived.

In Manchester, three activists collected food from Tesco in Didsbury and delivered it to a local Aldi food-bank drop-off. In Truro, two activists removed boxes from Sainsbury’s on Treyew Road and transported them to the store’s food-bank point.

A Take Back Power spokesperson said, “It is sickening that 6.5 million people in the UK are forced to turn to food banks every year… We need to tax extreme wealth to fix Britain, and we need ordinary people to decide how.”

Among the participants, Eve Middleton, 25, from Manchester, said, “I refuse to sit by while billionaires hoard wealth and capture our democracy… It’s time for ordinary people to be put at the heart of decision making.” Ruth Cook, 74, from Somerset, added, “I’m taking this food and delivering it to a food bank collection point because we need to do something about this. We need to tax the super rich and give ordinary people a say in how our taxes are spent.”

Take Back Power’s actions come amid a national crisis, with 14 million people facing food insecurity last year and 6.5 million relying on food banks in 2024.

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