Activists have launched a mass shoplifting spree across the UK today, targeting Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons stores in several cities as they aim to ‘liberate’ produce.
Take Back Power, whose stated aim is to ‘tax the rich to fix Britain’, shared footage of activists stealing products from a Morrison’s store in Exeter on Saturday morning, saying they planned on taking on stores in the capital later in the day.
The anti-capitalist group wrote on social media: ‘All the food we liberated this morning was delivered to food bank donation points, to go to the people who need it most.
‘The CEO of Sainsbury’s pays himself 239 times that of an ordinary full time employee in his company.
‘The super rich don’t need a “magic money tree” when they freely pick the pockets of working people every single day. It’s theft. Nothing more, nothing less.’
The group said they had ‘redistributed food from supermarkets to local foodbanks across the country’ today, beginning at around 8.30am and targeting supermarkets in Manchester, London, Exeter and Truro.
Although the group said activists were confronted by security staff in Exeter and London, they state on their website that no arrests have been made yet.
When the Daily Mail contacted police, they said officers in London found that activists had paid for the food, so no offences had been committed. The group told the Daily Mail this was not true.
Activists took items from the shelves and put them in boxes labelled ‘Take Back Power’
The items taken from major UK supermarkets were not paid for by the activists, who said they were ‘redistributing’ produce
The group states that the aim is to ‘tax the rich to fix Britain’. They have previously been behind stunts at the Ritz and even the Crown Jewels
The group tackled Manchester, London, Exeter and Truro, taking the goods and giving them to foodbanks as donations
One man managed to load up a trolley full of goods. No arrests have yet been made, the Daily Mail understands
A video posted by the group to social media had mixed responses, with some calling the protest ‘stealing’ while others praised the group.
One person commented: ‘So essentially stealing then – yes this is exactly what it is.’
Another wrote: ‘On the one hand, fully agree that resources should be provided to those who need them, but filming employees and trying to get them on board is risking their jobs and therefore their access to resources.
‘It’s a neat publicity stunt with a valid message but you gotta leave the employees out of it. They’re not corporate.’
The group had announced their plans to ‘paralyse’ the capital back in January. They had previously made headlines with high-profile stunts including pouring manure onto the floor of The Ritz hotel in Mayfair and smearing custard on a case containing the Crown Jewels.
Organisers of the group told an open launch event attended by the Daily Mail that activists would ‘take over’ high-end stores and raid food stores as part of a week of action in April.
Co-founder Arthur Clifton, 25, told more than 140 would-be activists who attended the launch the plans were part of a long-term aim for the ‘mass-mobilisation’ of 10,000 supporters he hoped would carry out acts of ‘civil disobedience’ at the 2029 election.
The group began its campaign of Robin Hood-style actions today.
Take Back Power’s previous stunts include pouring custard over the Crown Jewels last year
Privately-educated Mr Clifton, who attended Latymer Upper School where fees are £30,000 per year, said up to 100 activists at a time plan to enter food stores such as Marks and Spencer in the capital and ‘strip the shelves’.
Mr Clifton has also previously been convicted for his role in protests with Just Stop Oil.
Britain is in the midst of a ‘theft epidemic’ as police faced a record 810 shoplifting crimes a day last year.
Police closed 295,589 shoplifting cases without identifying a suspect in the year 2024-25 – the equivalent of officers shelving 34 offences an hour.
Shoplifting levels have doubled since the pandemic and rocketed by 20 per cent since Labour came into power.
The analysis, produced for the Liberal Democrats, revealed that a record number of cases are also being dropped by police.
The number of shoplifting investigations being closed without a suspect identified has soared by 65 per cent compared to five years ago, when 178,906 shoplifting offences went unsolved.
Last year, fewer than one in five (19 per cent) shoplifting cases led to a suspect being charged or summoned, while 55 per cent of cases were closed without a suspect being identified.
And separate Office for National Statistics figures show that between April 2024 and March 2025, police recorded 530,643 shoplifting offences – the equivalent of one a minute.
