Youth Demand promises a 'revolution'

"The government is engaging in absolute evil. They are enabling genocide in Palestine by sending money and arms to Israel. They are contributing to the murder of billions to keep the fossil fuel profits flowing."

That is the founding claim of Youth Demand, the UK's latest activist movement "taking up the mantle of public disruption" from Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and, most recently, Just Stop Oil, said The Times.

Who are they and what do they want?

The group emerged last year out of the youth wing of Just Stop Oil, which recently announced it would end its programme of civil disobedience having achieved its goals after the government pledged to stop issuing new licences for oil and gas exploration and production.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Made up predominantly of students and young people in their 20s, Youth Demand has two main aims: to end all trade with Israel and "make the rich pay". It says the latter must be achieved by raising £1 trillion by 2030 from the "fossil fuel elite to pay damages to countries harmed by fossil fuel burning".

"Until these demands are met," the group said, "we will be in nonviolent resistance against this rigged political system and the people with blood on their hands."

What tactics do they use?

The group first hit the headlines last spring after spray-painting the Labour Party's HQ and Ministry of Defence buildings. In protest over Gaza, it has laid child-sized body bags outside the home of Foreign Secretary David Lammy, and hung a banner covered with red hand prints reading "Starmer stop the killing" outside the home of the PM.

Like Just Stop Oil, it has positioned itself as a "non-violent civil-resistance group" that aims to cause maximum disruption and provoke a reaction from the authorities. Dozens of members were arrested in April after they attempted to "shut London down" with more than 70 roadblocks.

This is an example of the group's signature "swarm" protest, said The Times. This involves "blocking busy roads with a line of people holding banners, flares and flags for about 10 minutes, disrupting traffic and attracting attention, then dispersing before police arrive and repeating the process in another location".

Its activists also target high-profile sporting and cultural events. At the London Marathon they threw red powder paint in front of the men's race, while two members attempted to get on stage during Israel’s performance at this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Basel.

What does the future hold?

The group – which says it has 25,000 people on its mailing list – is planning to "ramp up their activities over the summer" to create a "sustained wave of resistance" in support of the Palestinian people, said The i Paper.

Yet its ambitions extend beyond what William Sitwell in The Telegraph called the "two couture lines of protest: pro-Palestine and anti-fossil fuel".

Youth Demand is just one of four sub-groups in the 'Umbrella' coalition. It also includes Just Stop Oil, Assemble, which aims to create a House of the People representative of the UK public through a lottery to discuss fixing the "broken system", and Robin Hood, which will engage in "civil resistance" in relation to socioeconomic challenges such as food poverty and housing.

"We are going to build a movement that is going to take control of the British state," said co-founder Sam Holland.

This proposition may be "easily dismissed as the delusions of a fringe group," said The i Paper, but Youth Demand is "convinced that 'a revolution' to dismantle centuries of political institutions is just around the corner, and they are the ones who are going to tip it over the edge".