Sun Street Eviction: No Rescue Package for Bank of Ideas

A High Court possession order against Occupy London’s Bank of Ideas was enforced last week with an eviction of activists in residence at the free-for-all community space. Protesters behind the ‘public repossession’ of the Sun Street site were forcibly evicted in the early hours on 30th January after two months’ peaceful occupation which saw the empty, UBS-owned site transformed into an active hub of talks and events, and a refuge for some of London’s most vulnerable citizens.

Protesters dropped their case against eviction on advice from lawyers that a loss in the courts could set a precedent affecting the right to protest elsewhere. Campaign groups Greenpeace and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament also advised the first incarnation of the Bank of Ideas to cede the battle for the site in light of wider considerations for protest rights in the UK.

The eviction saw bailiffs from the Rossendales firm gain entry to the site with the aid of City of London and Metropolitan police, with dozens of protesters resisting peacefully and leaving the building. An arrest was later made of a man believed to be a bailiff from the Rossendales firm over allegations of assault and criminal damage. Footage from the eviction reveals the alleged arrestee accelerating a vehicle into a crowd of activists and supporters outside the BoI; an incident which saw one victim carried on the bonnet of the vehicle for 50-100 yards. It is also claimed that police on site cleared the path for the alleged criminal to leave and refused to take crime reports from victims of the assault.

The Sun Street site was the third location claimed under the Occupy London banner, with residents breathing new life into the unused building as a site for the free ideas exchange. The founders of the site promised an educational space for the free trade of ideas and creativity for activists, as well as those who lost their nurseries, community centres and youth clubs to government spending cuts – and began delivering on this pledge within days of the start of the occupation on 18th November.

Throughout its short lease of life, the Bank of Ideas played host to hundreds of talks, workshops, events and conferences featuring the likes of Caroline Lucas MP, comedian Mark Thomas, Tax Justice Network representative Nicholas Shaxson, musician Billy Bragg, and a memorable Christmas “thank you” DJ set by Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, 3D from Massive attack and members of UNKLE. Other events included a packed-out screening of peace protest documentary How to Start a Revolution with a Q&A from director Ruaridh Arrow, a talk by Moneyless Man author Mark Boyle and a series of workshops by occupiers from other UK-wide camps converging on London during the first national Occupy conference in late November.

The BoI eviction followed a flurry of occupation activity across London, including a brief stay at the eight-story Roman House office building in the Barbican and a subsequent effort at the former Rafidain Bank building on Leadenhall Street. Protesters at Roman House used coverage of the brief stay to amplify calls for the City of London Corporation to publish full details of its  City cash accounts. Occupiers soon left the site amid concerns that their stay would put at risk the jobs of contractors due to renovate the building.

At Rafidain Bank, police evicted occupiers on the grounds of trespassing on diplomatic premises – with claims that although the bank was being liquidated by Big Four firm PwC, it retained its former diplomatic status from its former incarnation as the Iraq embassy. Three arrests were made by City of London police after reports of a notable stand-off with the force.

Beyond the effect of these evictions on protesters’ efforts to highlight and tackle social, environmental and economic injustice, some occupiers and supporters claim that the impact of eviction activity falls hardest on the capital’s more vulnerable residents. At the Bank of Ideas, Occupy’s free community space was used by families unable to secure temporary housing and army veterans who fell into homelessness after leaving the forces. With the potential criminalisation of some squatters’ rights under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act currently under government consideration, and increasing levels of homelessness across the board in the wake of the global financial crisis, the need to transform the UK’s unused buildings is a pressing issue.

By the steps of St. Paul’s, beneath now snow-lined tent canvases, protesters at the heart of the Occupy London movement await the result of an appeal on a High Court eviction ruling. The appeal will be held on 13th February.

My Mark Kauri