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