Occupy London was a political movement in London, England, and part of the international

Occupy movement The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and econo ...

. While some media described it as an "anti-capitalist" movement, in the statement written and endorsed by consensus by the Occupy assembly in the first two days of the occupation, occupiers defined themselves as a movement working to create alternatives to an "unjust and undemocratic" system. A second statement endorsed the following day called for "real global democracy". Due to a pre-emptive injunction, the protesters were prevented from their original aim to camp outside the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

. A camp was set up nearby next to St Paul's Cathedral. On 18 January 2012, Mr Justice Lindblom granted an injunction against continuation of the protest but the protesters remained in place pending an appeal. The appeal was refused on 22 February, and just past midnight on 28 February, bailiffs supported by City of London police began to remove the tents. The protests began in solidarity with the

Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a protest movement against economic inequality and the influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district, in September 2011. It gave rise to t ...

protests in New York, United States, and with support from

tax avoidance Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law. A tax shelter is one type of tax avoidance, and tax havens are jurisdi ...

protest group

UK Uncut UK Uncut was a network of United Kingdom-based protest groups established in October 2010 to protest against cuts to public services and tax avoidance in the UK. Various sources have described the group as left-wing in its political orientati ...

and the London-based contingent of the Spanish 15M movement. In October protesters established a second encampments in

Finsbury Square Finsbury Square is a square in Finsbury in central London which includes a six-rink grass bowling green. It was developed in 1777 on the site of a previous area of green space to the north of the City of London known as Finsbury Fields, in the pa ...

just to the north of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. In November, a third site was opened in a disused office complex owned by UBS. Named by protesters as the

Bank of Ideas The Bank of Ideas was a squatted, self-managed social centre in a disused UBS office complex on Sun Street in the City of London, England. It remained in the building from November 2011 until January 2012. The building was owned by UBS, and the ...

, the site was located in Hackney and was evicted in late January 2012. A fourth site was established in late December, at the disused premises of Old Street Magistrates Court in east London. The site's owners objected to its proposed long-term use by occupiers, and agreement was reached for the building to be vacated by the end of January 2012. In February 2012, occupiers were evicted from their main camp ar St Paul's, and from the Bank of Ideas, leaving Finsbury Square as the last London site to remain occupied. The Finsbury Square camp was cleared by authorities in June 2012.

Chronology

2011 events

October

On 10 October 2011, a campaign was launched on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

for protests to take place at the

on 15 October in solidarity with the

protests in New York and with multiple other protests planned worldwide for that day. Julian Assange speaking at Occupy London protest

The

Paternoster Square Paternoster Square is an urban development, owned by the Mitsubishi Estate, next to St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. The area, which takes its name from Paternoster Row, once centre of the London publishing trade, was devastated by ...

was the initial target for the protesters on 15 October. However, the police blocked access to the square, enforcing a High Court injunction against public access. 2,500–3,000 people gathered nearby outside St Paul's Cathedral, with around 250 camping overnight. During the afternoon of 15 October Julian Assange, the founder of

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...

, gave an impromptu speech to the protesters on the topic of anonymity after he was challenged by police for wearing a mask as he walked to the protest. On the Sunday morning a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

of St. Paul's,

Giles Fraser Giles Anthony Fraser (born 27 November 1964) On 16 October, a gathering of over 500 Occupy London protesters collectively agreed upon and issued the following 'Initial Statement': By 17 October, an encampment of around 150 tents together with makeshift tarpaulin shelters was clustered around the west side of St Paul's Cathedral. On 21 October, the Dean of St Paul's announced that the cathedral would be closing until further notice as a result of the Occupy London camp pitched outside, and asked the protesters to leave the vicinity of the building "so that the cathedral can reopen as soon as possible". On the evening of the 21st it was reported that the protesters had decided that they would remain in their encampment outside the cathedral, and that they believed that they could not be lawfully removed from the site without a court order. On 22 October, the protesters established a second camp in

, just north of the City of London in the

London Borough of Islington The London Borough of Islington ( ) is a London borough in Inner London. Whilst the majority of the district is located in north London, the borough also includes a significant area to the south which forms part of central London. Islington has ...

On 26 October it was reported that the Dean of St Paul's had decided that the cathedral would reopen on 28 October, following the resolution of all health and safety concerns. The move was described as an "embarrassing U-turn" by the British national newspaper ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

''. On 27 October,

Giles Fraser Giles Anthony Fraser (born 27 November 1964)St Paul's over disagreements on the handling of the demonstrators, saying "I resigned because I believe that the chapter has set on a course of action that could mean there will be violence in the name of the church." On 28 October, the movement's first set of demands, "Democratise The City of London Corporation", was published.

November

On 1 November Graeme Knowles, the

dean of St Paul's The dean of St Paul's is a member of, and chair of the Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral in London in the Church of England. The dean of St Paul's is also ''ex officio'' dean of the Order of the British Empire. The current dean is Andrew Tremlett, ...

, resigned following the backlash against his Chapter's resolution to forcibly evict the Occupy London protesters from outside the cathedral. The

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

proceeded to take legal action against the camp at St Pauls, without support from the cathedral.

Canary Wharf Group Canary Wharf Group plc is a British property company headquartered in London, England. It is the owner and developer of nearly of property at Canary Wharf and elsewhere in London. Over the last 10 years it has constructed more office space in L ...

took legal action on 3 November to prevent Occupy London protesters from setting up camp in London's Docklands. On 18 November, protesters took over a disused office complex owned by the bank UBS, located in the London borough of Hackney. The site was opened to the public the following day as the ''

'', and claimed to provide free services including a library, seminars and various discussion related events. On 28 November protesters at the Hackney site said they would contest attempts by lawyers to have them evicted.

December

In early December, the City of London Police made reference to Occupy London in a letter warning businesses about potential terrorist threats. It stated that: "It is likely that activists aspire to identify other locations to occupy, especially those they identify with capitalism. City of London Police has received a number of hostile reconnaissance reports concerning individuals who would fit the anti-capitalist profile. All are asked to be vigilant regarding suspected reconnaissance, particularly around empty buildings." By late December, consensus among occupiers at the main camp in St Pauls had seemed to coalesce round a view that is would be better to leave voluntarily as long as they can be allowed to keep a small presence, and negotiations were started to see if agreement could be reached with the cathedral. Also, in late December, a fourth site was established in East London at an unused court and police complex. Occupiers announced plans to use the new site to host a symbolic "trial of the 1%"

2012 events

On 18 January, the High Court ruled in favour of the City of London Corporation, giving them the power to order the eviction of occupiers from the St Pauls Camp. A spokesperson for the City said they would not further pursue eviction until 20 January, to give the occupiers a chance to appeal against the ruling. The appeal date was later set to 13 February 2012. Comparing the St Pauls camp as it was in January 2012 with its first few weeks, journalists such as Sid Ryan, Brendan O'Neill and

Laurie Penny Laurie Penny (born Laura Barnett, 28 September 1986) is a British journalist and writer. Penny has written articles for publications including ''The Guardian,'' ''The New York Times'' and ''Salon''. Penny is a contributing editor at the ''New ...

noted a change of character, with energy being diverted from political activism into caring for homeless and mentally ill people attracted by the companionship and shelter. Ryan has argued that despite caring for the homeless being a worthwhile cause, it may help the movement achieve change in the wider world if the camp is evicted. On 30 January, occupiers were evicted from the site where they had set up their ''

'', by bailiffs acting on behalf of UBS, who owned the premises. In mid February, Occupy London took over an abandoned school in Islington, which they called the ''School of Ideas''. They were evicted two weeks later, with authorities arranging for the school to be bulldozed on 28 February. Also on 28 February, occupiers and their tents were removed from the area surrounding St. Paul's Cathedral, by a team of bailiffs supported by riot police. The St Pauls site had been the last surviving high-profile camp of the worldwide

. At the time of its eviction it was also the largest one remaining. According to the ''Financial Times'', Occupy activists insisted that their campaigning would continue, with some displaying banners announcing that the protests so far were "just the beginning." In April,

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...

reported that the St Paul's camp cost London authorities just over a million pounds in monitoring and legal fees, while the Finsbury Square camp had so far cost about £10,000. In December 2012, the

Corporation of the City of London The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

acquiesced to one of the Occupy London demands, releasing information about a previously secret bank account called

City's Cash City's Cash is an endowment fund, overseen by the City of London Corporation, built up over 800 years and passed from generation to generation to fund services that the Corporation claims benefit London and the nation as a whole. It is one of th ...

. This fund had existed for hundreds of years and proved to contain more than £1.319bn. With an income of £145m per annum, 29% of this comes from school fees, with a further eight per cent coming from rents and nine per cent coming from grants, reimbursements, and contributions. However, the largest source of revenue was 52 per cent from investments.

References

External links

Occupy London, activist group homepage

Occupy London gallery in ''The Guardian''
{{SquatE&W 2011 in London 2012 in London

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Protests in London Squats in the United Kingdom