Occupy Branches Out To Finsbury Square

BethPH
By BethPH Last edited 149 months ago
Occupy Branches Out To Finsbury Square


The Occupy London protesters have created a satellite camp at Finsbury Square in a bid to reduce numbers at the crowded St Paul's site.

A group bearing placards marched to the new site on Saturday evening where around 30 tents had previously been pitched. Occupy have issued their own open letter in response to that of the Dean of St Paul's disputing the claims of health and safety risks but it may not be enough. The Cathedral and other businesses in the vicinity are considering an injunction to move the protesters on, saying their presence is costing £20,000 per day in lost visitor revenue.

UK Uncut have also joined the Occupy protest and at 12.00 today the group marched upon the offices of HMRC to demand the resignation of HMRC head Dave Hartnett. Hartnett struck a controversial deal with Vodafone and Goldman Sachs over reduced tax bills.

Like the St Paul's camp, the Finsbury Square site is pretty well organised, with signposted recycling points, a Tent City University yurt and a central point for newcomers to report to while on Sunday evening a band entertained the occupants. We visited today and were told that they were in the process of a reorganisation to allow for more tents to be pitched.

When we asked if more protesters were expected, Allan MacDonald of Occupy said 'there's a definite sense of things growing,' though they were unable to say at this point if further green spaces in and around the City may be occupied. If an injunction on the St Paul's camp is successful, City tent cities could become an everyday scene.

For an inside report on the St Paul's camp, listen to this week's Londonist Out Loud, which carries interviews with some of the protesters.

Last Updated 24 October 2011