The City Put ‘Pause’ On Legal Action

LONDON (OPC) — Activists in London celebrated Tuesday as St Paul’s Cathedral and city councillors pulled out of plans to break up the protest camp on the church’s doorstep.

More than 250 campers from Occupy London Stock Exchange have held St. Paul’s Square for more than a fortnight after police barred them from the privately-owned Paternoster Square directly outside the exchange.

St. Paul’s Cathedral said in a statement that its Chapter – the ruling body of clerics which threatened legal action last week – had unanimously agreed to drop its bid to evict the 300-strong Occupy London Stock Exchange from St Paul’s Square after meeting with Bishop of London Dr Richard Chartres.

The bishop had previously met with protesters Sunday, stressing that the conflict “should not lead to violence.”

But at the time Dr Chartres deflected questions about whether he opposed an inherently violent forced eviction, saying only that he had “no responsibility” in the matter.

The clerics’ legal threats last week had cracked open a rift within the Anglican church, pitting Cathedral heads who said the protest had made its point against grassroots groups who accused the Cathedral of abandoning Christian principles — and the building’s ancient tradition of sanctuary.

Others alleged pressure from the City itself in light of the Cathedral’s dependence on wealthy, well-connected trustees and FTSE-listed corporate donors: the St Paul’s Cathedral Foundation channeled £1.3m in donations into the Cathedral’s coffers last year: its 10 trustees largely consist of influential financial industry figures, while its biggest corporate donors include Lloyds TSB, ‘wealth management’ firms and the London Stock Exchange itself.

Yesterday the Cathedral’s Canon Pastor Michael Colclough conceded the past fortnight had been “an enormously difficult time” for the church.

“Legal concerns have been at the forefront in recent weeks but now is the time for the moral, the spiritual and the theological to come to the fore,” he said.

The church’s backtrack prompted cheers from protesters at the camp’s lunchtime general assembly — followed a few hours later by a similar statement from the City of London Corporation.

The Corporation – which had sought an eviction order on grounds of obstructing a public highway – said Tuesday night it had “pressed the ‘pause’ button” on legal action for the time being.

Chairman Stuart Fraser said they were offering a pause of “days, not weeks” to work out a solution.

The statement follows tense scenes at the council’s planning committee meeting last Friday, where councillors immediately voted 12-4 to eject press and members of the public – including the Occupied Times – before discussing the eviction.

Upwards of 30 protesters sat silently as the resolution passed: only then did protester Ronan McNern break the silence as the 30-odd protesters prepared to leave.

“We’re peaceful protesters — we have a just cause and we have a right to be able to demonstrate,” he said to applause.

Should the Corporation’s eviction bid continue, it is understood Occupy’s lawyers will likely invoke a “lawful excuse” for the camp’s existence under the European Convention of Human Rights.

Legal volunteer James Smith, a law graduate from Leicester university with a background in conveyancing, told the Occupied Times the case would largely centre on whether or not the act of camping was itself a form of protest.

The camp would then be protected under the Convention’s binding right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, he said.

The camp has also accepted an offer from human rights monitors Liberty to mediate talks with councillors and clergy.

By Rory MacKinnon