The activists have accused M&S of profiteering amid the cost of living crisis and say they also plan to start targeting other chains.
A group claims to have stolen food from Marks & Spencer as an act of protest against the cost of living crisis.
Activists from Everybody Eats, an organisation that advocates for direct action on food poverty in the UK, posted on social media about shoplifting groceries from the supermarket’s food hall in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester.
It’s understood the goods were later donated to food banks in the area, with some of the activists dressed in Robin Hood costumes.
No arrests are reported to have been made, though Greater Manchester Police are understood to be aware that a shoplifting incident had allegedly taken place in the area at roughly 1.40pm on April 14.
Campaigners reportedly say they’re also planning to steal from other chains, threatening to replicate their tactics ‘across the country’ until the government makes concessions on food security.
Latest figures from the Trussell Trust, a charitable NGO working to address hunger in the UK, indicate that more than three million people in the UK used food banks between 2022 and 2023.
According to The Telegraph, Everybody Eats claimed the food banks to which they had donated the stolen groceries were fully aware of where the goods had came from.
The group reportedly posted a photograph on X, formerly Twitter, with the caption: ‘Today we took food from an M&S in Manchester without paying for it.
‘The food will now be distributed straight to people in the community as well as local food banks.
‘We cannot sit by as we and our friends, our families, our neighbours starve.’
Further footage appears to show the activists walking into the supermarket to fill bags with olive oil, bread, cereal, oat milk and other items.
They then appeared to walk out with the baskets and unload the goods without any intervention from security or shop employees.
One of the group is heard to say: ‘What we do is we go into major supermarkets and liberate food essentials to distribute to food banks and those living in the area who are in food poverty.
‘We’ve been asked by food banks for their help. It is the right thing to do – people are hungry in the land of plenty, and I think that’s obscene.’
M&S confirmed it has reported the incident to the police.
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