On Saturday, and in spite of St Paul’s Cathedral withdrawal of support for the camp, over a thousand people joined the occupation based near London Stock Exchange to add their voices to growing anger against the government austerity measures and what people assembled at the occupation call ‘an unsustainable system that is undemocratic and unjust’.
In a sign of growing support for the occupation, Len McCluskey, General Secretary of Britain’s largest trade union attended the regular outdoor lunchtime public meeting on (Thursday 20th) and offered support, saying: “People here are standing up to protect the heritage that their mothers, fathers and grandfathers have built for them – so well done for everything you are doing. There are millions of people watching their television and wishing there were here with you”.
In only eight days, the area outside the Cathedral has now become a functional, organised space, with up to 200 tents and at least 1,000 people in attendance each day for public meetings, educational workshops and lively political debate. Members of the public and local business people have contributed food for the camp, marquees, media and technical equipment, portable toilets, recycling refuse disposal systems, legal advice, first aid and camp provisions and books for the onsite library.
In spite of working very closely with St. Paul’s Cathedral to minimise disruption to its normal life and complying with health and safety requests (e.g., rearranging all the tents in order to ensure access to Fire Exits) the group managing the Cathedral decided in a meeting on Friday night that Rev Dr Giles Fraser, Canon Chancellor of St Paul’s initial welcome to the “Occupy London” campers had been premature and after further discussions decided to close this hugely touristic London landmark citing health and safety issues. It will not reopen until the campers leave, and it is considering legal action to evict them.
According to the protesters it has not been possible to corroborate what these issues are in consultation with the Cathedral and the Fire Brigade. Furthermore, there is apparently some confusion over who owns the land outside St Paul’s where the protestors have settled. Old deeds show that the churchyard is in fact a series of different plots, which could delay any court action.
Interestingly, St Paul’s Cathedral lists under [“Our Supporters”]( http://www.stpauls.co.uk/Support-St-Pauls/Our-Supporters) Lloyds TSB Group plc, City of London Corporation, Goldman Sachs International, UBS Investment Bank, London Stock Exchange, American Express and HSBC Holdings Plc, among many others. In their statement to the Press the Cathedral’s authorities argued that they are losing lots of money in revenues from tourism and weddings whilst it remains closed. No mention is made of the list of financial backers, or the likely role they may be playing in the decision to remove the protesters.
The second Occupation in London is now in Finsbury Sq, a few hundred yards from the original one. It is also in the heart of the financial district but further away from famous landmarks. Although the protesters have been accused of having vague objectives, working groups are flourishing. They are discussing the creation of a new system in political terms – Real Democracy – economic alternatives away from concentration of wealth and social injustice – but in spite of the Media calling the group “anticapitalist”, no consensus has been developed – human relationships based on nonviolence, spirituality, ecology, and many more. Read more about [Occupy London]( http://occupylondon.org.uk/)
