Last week, I saw a group of six or seven police officers surrounding an unhoused man who had stolen something from Gail’s. “How would you like it if I went into your house and stole your things?” the police officer asked the man, whose eyes were glued to the floor. While his colleagues dealt with the situation, the officer took a moment to chat with passersby. “Did he really think he could just steal and get away with it?” one of them asked the police officer, chuckling. 

It felt like a dystopian nightmare. We live in a world where the police will disingenuously compare stealing from a £500 million corporation to stealing from someone’s house – and where, rather than defending the basic human right to shelter, warmth and food, bystanders enthusiastically join the police in chastising those without these fundamental needs. 

The UK is broken, but activist group Take Back Power (TBP) believes it can be fixed. “Our material living conditions are getting worse and worse as billionaires get richer and richer, so we are campaigning to give people a say in how we fix Britain,” 29-year-old TBP member Jo tells Dazed. Formed at the end of 2025, the activist group aims to highlight wealth inequality through nonviolent resistance. They recently drew attention online when one of their members, 21-year-old Ella, was arrested by four police officers on suspicion of theft. This was the result of one of TBP’s most notable acts of resistance: liberating food and hygiene products from supermarkets and donating them to food banks. 

“We are in our infancy as a movement,” Jo tells Dazed. “But we hope to grow our capacity across Britain so that we can mobilise people across a progressive coalition to take direct action and keep power out of the hands of a Reform government.” TBP’s main aim is to replace the House of Lords with a citizens’ assembly, the House of the People, to ensure that the 99 per cent are in charge of how the country is run. Their first step would be to tax the super-rich. 

Below, we speak to Jo about why she joined TBP, how police and government repression have impacted their work, and how a fairer and just Britain is possible.

What made you join Take Back Power?   

Jo: I joined TBP because politics is failing us, and I’ve spent most of my adult life becoming increasingly disillusioned with democracy in this country. I spent my teens believing in the meritocracy myth and working hard in pursuit of a brighter future, after growing up in a working-class family and being the first to go to university. As I grew up, I experienced wealth inequality in a very visceral way: the kids at the other end of town from where my school was had a life expectancy of 10 years longer than those of us who went to school in a more deprived part of town. This is because poverty significantly impacts health and educational prospects. 

I now rely on food banks and support from the welfare state because, despite spending eight years in higher education, I haven’t been able to find a well-paying job which will allow me to afford the basics, let alone a house, car or any of the things that people my parents’ age did before they hit 30. And this is the reality for so many young people of my generation who aren’t related to billionaires.

What kind of direct action does TBP take? 

Jo: Our actions to date have included classic tactics of non-violent civil resistance, such as high-profile stunts like throwing custard and cream on the crown jewels and delivering shit to the Ritz, as well as ‘take-backs’ in which we liberate and redistribute food to food banks. More recently, we carried out some ‘take-overs’ in which people occupied high-end stores and car showrooms in London. These actions are designed to grab the attention of the wider public and raise questions around how wealth inequality is spiralling out of control and what we can do about it. 

The future that young people are facing if fascism takes hold, and if inequality is left to spiral further out of control, is much scarier than anything the police can do to us

I was stunned when I saw the video of your comrades carrying boxes that read ‘Take Back Power’ into Tesco, filling it with food and leaving the supermarket without paying to redistribute it to food banks. Food should be affordable – free even – but we know that shoplifting is at an all-time high right now because food is unaffordable for many. 

Jo: I am lucky to live in Sheffield, a city with many food redistribution services that provide food to those who need it but can’t afford it: young families, people with multiple jobs who still can’t afford to do a food shop, the elderly or disabled and the most vulnerable amongst us. But it’s often excess food that supermarkets can’t sell, or it’s about to go past its sell-by date (but is still very edible). Without volunteers intercepting the food and giving it to those who need it, it would otherwise end up in bins and subsequently in the landfill. Supermarkets are prepared to waste so much while so many of us go hungry. 

Since TBP began last December, there have been over 50 arrests and 30 house raids. How has this repression impacted the work you do?  

Jo: As frustrating as it is, we have come to expect repression when engaging in civil resistance. 1,300 women went to prison before we won the right to vote. State repression is inevitable when we are taking effective direct action and challenging the status quo. Those with the power and wealth don’t want to let go of it, so they aren’t pleased about the people trying to take it back. But as much as they try to crush us, it strengthens our resolve to keep resisting. And we know we have to because things aren’t getting any better; in fact, they are getting so much worse every day. We can’t let it affect us. The future that young people are facing if fascism takes hold, and if inequality is left to spiral further out of control, is much scarier than anything the police can do to us.  

They don’t want working-class people speaking up about the fact that a fairer future is possible and we have the power to make it happen if we step up and do something brave

What is your message to the government, the police and all other repressive powers? 

Jo: We are taking action for you, too. We need to bring about a fairer Britain; it’s simple. Inequality makes societies sick. The billionaires are stealing from all of us ordinary people who just want healthy, happy lives for ourselves and our families. It’s about time we see a mass redistribution of wealth and power to the people who keep this country going. Instead of protecting the elites who syphon wealth from the public purse, it’s time you started protecting the interests of the people. 

How does it make you feel to be part of a group like TBP?

Jo: Empowered and like I’m doing something meaningful. A lot of us feel like we’re out of options with our current political system. Emailing our MPs and signing petitions isn’t cutting it anymore. People are suffering immeasurably across the country, and it’s easy to feel helpless. After joining and sharing my lived experience on Zoom calls, I got a knock on the door at 6am from the Met police, who had travelled to Sheffield to arrest me for conspiracy to commit theft. Shocking as it was, I couldn’t help but think that I must be doing something right, because they are trying to silence me. They don’t want working-class people speaking up about the fact that a fairer future is possible and we have the power to make it happen if we step up and do something brave.