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POLICE AND BALIFFS have evicted protesters at the Occupy London camp outside St Paul’s Cathedral overnight.
20 people were arrested during the dismantling of the camp which began just after midnight. The camp, which had been outside the cathedral since last October, has now been completely cleared.
The City of London Corporation, which is responsible for policing and local government in the area, said that it was “regrettable” that that camp had had to be removed. The eviction followed an order from the High Court.
Activists were told that they had five minutes to pack their tents and leave when the eviction began last night. Most of the protesters did not resist police and balliffs as tents and other equipment were removed from the site, the BBC reports.
The protesters have said that they still plan to use the steps outside St Paul’s Cathedral to host general assemblies and discussions and that their action against corporate greed is far from over.
The High Court had ruled in January that the camp had to leave the area. Activists at the camp had appealed the judgment but the Court of Appeal in London rejected the protesters’ challenge.
“It is regrettable that it had to come to the need for removal but the High Court judgment speaks for itself. The site has now been cleared and the area is undergoing a deep clean,” said Stuart Fraser of the City of London Corporation.
Source: AP Photo/Sang Tan" title="">
Source: AP Photo/Sang Tan" title="">
Source: Max Nash/PA Wire" title="">
Source: Lewis Whyld/PA Wire" title="">
Source: Lewis Whyld/PA Wire" title="">
Source: Lewis Whyld/PA Wire" title="">
Source: Lewis Whyld/PA Wire" title="">
Source: Lewis Whyld/PA Wire" title="">
Source: Lewis Whyld/PA Wire" title="">
Source: Max Nash/PA Wire" title="">
Source: Sean Dempsey/PA Wire" title="">
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The right to protest does have limits…
The only reason the eyesore on Dame St is still standing is because nobody in authority has the balls to stand up and say ‘you’ve made your point now move on’…
U said it, Winston. “Enough already” as they say in America.
About time !
The majority of people who do this are dreadlocks crusties with too much time on there hands. The rest of us have to keep our nose to the grand stone to pay the bills and raise our families with no free time to do this sort of thing.
The camp was just a rallying point for people to meet and exchange views. It’s real value was in providing a place for people to participate in political change and to provide a platform to present an alternative view to that of the minority who control the majority of the wealth in world. The camp may be gone, but the movement isn’t. I am glad it ended peacefully.
I’m not going to engage the usual “get a job crusties” trolls, they miss the point completely and will likely never get it.
And it’s like playing chess with a pigeon: they just strut and flap around, making a lot of noise, crap on the board and knock over the pieces and think they’ve won.
Well said.
I hope they get into the heart of “the City” this time. St Paul’s was not causing enough of an inconvenience to the bankers and Marketeers that are holding the World to random.
Viva la Revolución.
Yeah Reada…but they have to get to Canary Wharf to escalate the movement. Thats where the real corporate crime is going on afterall.
I’ll will them on from Kildare Ann-Marie and you bring them down the flasks of tae and hang sandwiches. ;)
Grand job Réada…I bought my guitar the only time I was there so I’d say something more useful and less noisy would be needed! :)
Passed it on my way to work this morning…t’was fairly quiet after last night. I’ve been to the camp because one of my friends was there for a bit…yeah lots of crusties but a good lot of them did shifts there and went about their work as normal as they could considering the circumstances. In reality, they should have made more of an effort to get to Canary Wharf…the only reason they were there that long was because it would have been embarrassing for St. Pauls if they threw them out immediately. If they went down the CW (which they tried to do before) Met police wouldn’t have been so patient.
I completely agree with what they are trying to achieve but in reality occupying an open space has very little affect on anything other than people’s opinion of people doing it if it causes an inconvenience or an eye sore. Why didn’t they plan to randomly occupy different government building and demand talks. I have spoken with the group several times and there nice people but there action will not change a single thing.
I wonder how many of the crusties are on social welfare and have never actually had a job….ever… If they were normal contributors to society maybe we would all give a **** what they thought. My guess is they will move on to some other cause at another crusty camp for a while and then maybe do the festival season…
Changed the national conversation in a lot of countries around the world. You only have to look at the use of the word inequality in news articles on a google search, barely used at all previous till the occupy camps and then low and behold the most used word in all articles for the whole of 2011 even thou the camps were there just for the last qtr. Whatever your views on it, the fact is this system and status quo cannot continue for much longer and the sooner its changed the better for all of us.
Well at least they are speaking out against the injustices being perpretrated by bankers & big business. Thats a lot more than most citizens do in this country. And talking about things that are illegal by time this country gets back on its feet we’ll all be doing something illegal.
Im still surprised how the general public feel so far removed from the occupy movement. This is about raising awareness of the injustices WE are experiencing. Until something changes, the point hasn’t been made.
We have a chance to radically overhaul the way our systems operate and we are too busy complaining about eyesores and hippies to do anything to bring about change.
If not Occupy, what? Because the voting of a new government didnt work.
Damn straight. ! those people wouldnt be there if the government had fucked up. change is needed and they still believe change hasnt happen. i just hope irish people havent forgotten what those bankers did to us.
Smelly folk
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