St Paul's: We'll give sanctuary to protesters if violence breaks out

Flashpoint: a demonstrator lights a flare outside Panton House in yesterday's rally

St Paul's Cathedral could open its doors as a "sanctuary" to protect Occupy London protesters if bailiffs attempt to evict them forcefully from the site, the Standard can reveal.

Today the City of London Corporation stepped up its legal bid to have anti-capitalist demonstrators removed from the area outside St Paul's, saying the tent city breached planning rules.

Church authorities believe this is an attempt to "tie our hands behind our backs" and ensure St Paul's cannot allow protesters to move onto its land in the event of an eviction.

Sources said the Corporation's latest action was a sign it would do "whatever it takes" to remove the protesters, and high-level discussions have taken place at the cathedral over the possibility of "offering sanctuary if things dissolve into violence".

This week, St Paul's protesters raised the idea of moving to a smaller site on nearby land owned entirely by the cathedral.

But today the City of London prevented any attempt to move by issuing an enforcement notice saying "the unauthorised use as a protest camp is not an appropriate use of the land". The notice gives protesters 48 hours to "remove from the land all tents and other structures ... for the purpose of the protest camp."

According to cathedral sources, the legal move means St Paul's will now have to comply with any action taken by the Corporation to remove the tent city. it also raises the possibility of "open conflict" between the City and the cathedral, with fears it could culminate in demonstrators being sheltered in St Paul's.
A Cathedral source said: "The Corporation has found a way to make sure the cathedral cannot do anything.

"The only radical alternative would be putting [protesters] inside the cathedral. We have said all along that what we do not want is for this to end in violence. If [during an eviction] they run inside, the doors are not going to be shut. Everything has been discussed."

Naomi Colvin, a spokeswoman for Occupy London, said: "This is a development we had not heard about. We've had very productive discussions with St Paul's and this is a process of continued dialogue. We find it incredible the Corporation would seek open conflict with the cathedral in this manner."

Asked about St Paul's being used to shelter protesters, she said: "If that is being discussed it is something we would welcome."

Yesterday police arrested 24 people following the occupation of a mining firm headquarters in London. Kai Wargalla, 26, an organiser of the St Paul's camp, was held after activists stormed the roof of Xstrata's offices in Panton House near Leicester Square. It is believed a boy of 15 was also detained. Police said 19 of the group were still in custody.

This week the cathedral suggested protesters put one tent in St Paul's as a symbolic gesture to ensure the camp has a "lasting presence". And last week it emerged the camp could be cleared before Christmas, after the High Court ruled an eviction hearing should take place on December 19.

A St Paul's spokesman said: "We reiterate a desire for the camp to go peacefully. We want to ensure a permanent platform for the protesters."

Activist quits camp over 'serious health risks to life'

A protester quit the St Paul's camp today, claiming health and safety problems and drug abuse are so rife that people are at serious risk.
Leo Ashford, 20, said he has become disillusioned after being there since it started.

His decision came amid growing camp tension and another activist's claim that the atmosphere
is "like a scene from Orwell's Animal Farm".

Unemployed designer Mr Ashford said: "I'm going to leave before someone dies here. If the poor kitchen hygiene doesn't kill someone then the poor fire safety will - and if that doesn't then someone's going to overdose here.

"I'm going to leave today because it has got to the point where health and safety is so bad I don't feel comfortable being here any more."
He claimed that despite generous donations by supporters, including religious groups, the money has been squandered and lost.

"We're protesting against bankers and no one on our finance team knows how to use a ledger or a receipt," he said. "In the second week we had public opinion on our side and enough donations to sustain ourselves. We all could have had brand-new tents and blow-up mattresses. Now no one knows where the money has gone.

"I'm sad but I knew a month ago that it would get to the point where we would collapse in on ourselves on essentially our own stupidity."
Occupy London spokesman Ronan McNern said: "There have been discussions about changes. You're going to see changes. In terms of welfare we have been straight forward that there are issues. There are no issues with money."

Alan Bennett's signed works vanish from camp

Two signed copies of Alan Bennett's work left by the author in the St Paul's camp library tent have vanished. The playwright, pictured when he visited last week and drank tea with the activists, dedicated the text of the play The History Boys and his memoir A Life Like Other People's "To Occupy London". Today a camp spokeswoman confirmed the works were no longer there.

Some activists claim it hints at the "infighting" which has set in at the camp. One said: "Everyone is really fed up. People are feeling a loss of purpose. We're here because we believe bankers should be brought to account. We are forgetting all this as a few people try to control what the rest are doing."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in