Occupy London says St Paul's Cathedral colluded with eviction effort

Following last night's eviction of Occupy London from St Paul's Square, many of the protesters blame the cathedral for colluding with the eviction effort. This past winter, the cathedral was rocked by a series of high-profile departures from clerics who sided with Occupy, and this culminated in the cathedral "pausing" its action against the protests. Writing in The Guardian, James Ball and Ben Quinn describe the accusations that the protesters have levied against the cathedral.

At midnight five spotlights illuminated the square as the standoff continued. At 2am the lights were briefly switched off. When turned on again, four people, believed by protesters to be police officers, were stood on the balcony of the cathedral. Soon after, police revealed to press that they had the cathedral's permission to remove protesters from its steps.

"I was shocked to see policemen on the balcony," said Naomi Colvin, a spokeswoman for Occupy. "It seemed to be collusion. Tammy [another activist] just gave an interview saying how betrayed she felt when she learned the cathedral gave permission for us to be removed from its steps.

"That wasn't covered in the high court orders – it's like St Paul's has learned nothing from the last four months."

The canon chancellor of St Paul's, Giles Fraser, resigned in October over attempts by the cathedral to remove protesters by compulsion. Fraser was on the edge of the eviction, but police refused to let him cross a cordon to get closer to the cathedral.

Occupy London protesters accuse St Paul's of betrayal

• [Sam]

  Am sure it is what Jesus would have wanted.

  • [exile]

    It’s what the C of E wanted. They help defend Mammon from the meek, who as we know, “shall inherit nothing” – Zappa.

• [hakuin]

  nonsense,  churches cannot betray.

• [Ministry]

  ‘Betrayal’ would be if the Cathedral had been actively supportive of the protesters, then changed sides.

  Is that the case?

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    They betrayed the principles of their own faith.

• [James]

  If true, it’s hardly surprising. After all, you’ve got to get those awful people away from the Cathedral so they can get back to the important business of charging £14.50 a pop for a visit. I mean, the Olympics are coming and you can’t have potential punters being put off by some vagabonds trying to make a point. Imagine the lost revenue.

  Not that anything of the sort would have been considered, of course. I’m sure that’s just me being cynical and everything’s completely above board and impartial.

  • [Nathan Hornby]

    This is England we’re talking about; every single decision made by every authority is based around tourism.

    Whether or not there’s any net profit involved is irelivant, because, TOURISM!

    • [Wreckrob8]

      The Olympics and the Jubilee all in one year, I bet you can’t wait. But it could be worse, at least we’re not like those Greeks, are we?

      • [James]

         The same Greeks whose country went tits up not long after hosting an Olympics? Give us time :p

• [Noctilucent Studios]

  We will be back.

• [phoomp]

  Did they have an agreement with the Cathedral to occupy it’s property?

• [Noctilucent Studios]

   phoomp, that sort of comment places you on the losing side of History. Join us.

• [Nathan Hornby]

  Anyone who knows their history knows that the clergy are very much sided with the aristocracy and the government.

  They care as much about the people as they do about their followers; i.e. unless they’re putting money in their coffers they can all go to hell (literally).

• [th4]

  Just more evidence that the Occupy movement in its current incarnation is dead. When you’re squabbling with church canons, cops and politicians, you’re not driving the message about the 1%’s deathgrip on our economic resources. It’s time to give up occupying physical space and launch a campaign to  occupy the taxation and financial regulation systems. 

  • [Wreckrob8]

    It is the relationship between taxation and financial systems and their location within physical jurisdictions which is the problem. You have to go for both at least.

• [Dave Lloyd]

  What is it about the Police these days that they seem compelled to do these actions in the small hours when there’s no-one around. That used to be a thing we were taught only the Stasi and Soviets did. Their behaviour can’t stand the light of day it seems.

  @th4:disqus  St Paul’s is not just any old church. It is THE church of the rich and powerful. It is far more a masonic temple than a christian church.

  And yes, with the Olympics coming, NOTHING must be allowed to marr the tourist occasion..

  • [bcsizemo]

     I think there is some difference between these police actions and what the Soviets and others have done.

    Look at it from the work involved by the police.  At night there are low number of bystanders, low amount of traffic, and in general the rest of the city is fairly calm.  With outside forces minimized they can focus their attention on the “protesters” and not be distracted by dealing with media, traffic, other residents, or other outside protestors (that may or may not turn violent). 

    It’s like going to the grocery store at 2 in the morning.  There isn’t anyone out, the line is short, parking is easy, and in general it is a less stress inducing situation.  Not that I’m directly comparing this to shopping, or condoning the removal of the occupy movement.  Just pointing out that because it’s under the cover of darkness does not automatically mean there are ulterior motives.

    • [Eccentric Genius]

       So what you’re saying is that the ulterior motive was avoiding media and other protestors. Except that it wasn’t.

      Dude… a career in politics awaits you.

    • [James]

      If, like me, you replace the words police and protestors with Stasi and dissidents in your second paragraph, you get rewarded with a darkly humerous lol.

      Though I do agree that just because police actions take place in the wee, small hours it doesn’t mean that they’re up to no good or inherently sinister. It’s just unfortunate that it’s an action that has an unpalletable historical echo and that it lends itself to a very easy argument against it.

  • [PJDK]

    When were you taught that was the sort of thing only the Stasi did?  This is the sort of thing that everyone has done in the middle of the night, because as others have mentioned it is the easiest time to do it.

    The difference between this and the Stasi is this happened after several months of legal wrangling in the high court, in the middle of the day.

    • [Antinous / Moderator]

      The difference between this and the Stasi is this happened after several months of legal wrangling in the high court, in the middle of the day.

      Not entirely sure if that’s better or worse.

  • [hostile_17]

    So because they did something at night… they are like the Stasi and Soviets?

    Oi.

    I think because one of their tents were damaged, the police are now like they’re taking people to gas chambers. The inhumanity.

• [Cee Valentine]

  Occupy London!
  http://vimeo.com/35803378 

• [Brad Bell]

  The politics of space is very peculiar. The stock exchange seems to get it’s power by not really existing in space, ie. if you go to see it, you’ll be disappointed. It doesn’t have the permanence of a church facade or granite pillars like a bank, suggesting stability or the ability to withstand an attack. It seems to be abstract, like a network, like it were an underground bunker. And Occupy, evicted all over the U.S. at least, which seemed to get all it’s power from it’s occupation of space, turns out not really to need it. It simply changes tactics. 

  • [th4]

     Exactly right about the financial sector, which increasingly exists in virtual spaces and anonymous offices off the Long Island Turnpike. But I’m not so sanguine about the Occupy movement, which seems all too wedded to the same old tactics and amorphously resentful of any and all authority figures. Worse, its stalwarts are strategically conservative, unwilling to develop a real change agenda for fear of losing their magic pixie dust of activist street cred.