Occupy looks to a future after St Paul’s

After 172 days camped outside St Paul’s cathedral, the protesters of the Occupy movement braced themselves for eviction on Wednesday night, defying a request from City of London authorities to leave voluntarily after legal efforts to preserve the camp failed.

The encampment is the biggest remaining occupation by a movement that began on Wall Street and spread across the world, denouncing what it sees as the injustices of the economic order: from the political sway of multinational companies to bank bail-outs and spending cuts.

With their legal options seemingly exhausted after the Court of Appeal denied them leave to appeal against a ruling that upheld the City’s eviction order, some among the 100-odd occupants of the tent city appeared ready to depart.

The winter has been long and cold. Tempers have frayed. Divisions have emerged over the way the leaderless movement organises itself and between those members who camp at St Paul’s and those who do not.

Many Occupiers take heart from a new readiness among mainstream politicians to discuss inequality and “crony capitalism” – a term recently used by David Cameron, prime minister.

While the movement counts seasoned protesters, traditional leftists and anarchists in its ranks, it has also attracted many with scant experience of activism, setting it apart from campaigns focused on environmental or anti-capitalist causes.

Now, activists are considering how to sustain the movement.

Tammy Samede, who represented Occupy London in the hearings, said in a statement after the ruling: “It is a travesty that today’s [Wednesday’s] decision will limit voices of dissent within the City of London. However, Occupy is far from over. We’ve cut our milk teeth at St Paul’s and now we are maturing, growing and learning how to run.”

City authorities said they intended to enforce the ruling but would not comment on when they might do so. Stuart Fraser, policy chairman at the City of London Corporation, said: “Peaceful protest is a democratic right but the camp is clearly in breach of highway and planning law. I would call on protesters to comply with the decision of the courts and remove their tents and equipment voluntarily right away.”

The protest was never meant to have anything to do with St Paul’s. Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement – and seeking to borrow the zeal of the Arab uprising – the demonstrators who gathered on October 15 had the London Stock Exchange as their target. Diverted by police, they found themselves outside the cathedral, where they resolved to stay. Clerics resigned over the cathedral’s efforts to move their new neighbours on.

John Cooper QC, barrister for some Occupy protesters, said he expected to take the eviction case to the European Court of Human Rights.

But events may outpace the legal system. At a camp meeting last night protesters made plans for an imminent eviction, with a network of lookouts with whistles to warn of approaching bailiffs, allowing others to summon fellow activists via Twitter.

Mindful that protesters in Manhattan felt the brunt when police evicted them in November, activists called on City authorities to give advance warning of eviction. They restated a commitment to eschew violence.

One Occupy activist who spoke to the FT this month said he feared the movement would dissipate once it lost its focal point.

Yet a second, lower-profile camp at Finsbury Square remains and protesters recently took over a disused school in Islington. Some activists speak of the eviction as an opportunity to regroup away from what many see as an unfortunate stand-off with the Church.

Ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, Occupy said: “This is just the beginning. The movement is growing and evolving beyond its spiritual and symbolic home by the steps of St Paul’s.”