guardian.co.uk,
Daniel Boffey and Mark Townsend, Saturday 5 November 2011
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| Occupy London protesters outside St Paul's Cathedral in London. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA |
Ed Miliband
says the protesters camped outside St Paul's Cathedral present a stark warning
to the political classes and reflect a wider national crisis in confidence
about the values of those in business and politics.
The Labour
leader says that, while some have dismissed the cause of the protesters, they
present a wake-up call, though they should not be allowed to dictate the terms
of such a critical debate.
Writing in
the Observer, Miliband describes the Occupy London protest and others around
the world as "danger signals" that only the "most reckless will
ignore". He says: "The challenge is that they reflect a crisis of
concern for millions of people about the biggest issue of our time: the gap
between their values and the way our country is run."
He adds:
"I am determined that mainstream politics, and the Labour party in
particular, speaks to that crisis and rises to the challenge". The Labour
leader has until now made no comment on the furore around the protests, which
have led to a debate about whether the camp should be forcibly removed.
His
intervention will be regarded as a risky manoeuvre designed to hit home the
theme of his party conference speech of a need to rid the country of
"irresponsible, predatory capitalism". Miliband was widely praised
after risking the wrath of some in the media by calling for Rebekah Brooks's
resignation early on in the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World and
he will be hoping his comments today will chime with the wider electorate who
he believes share some of the anger of those at St Paul's.
Miliband is
careful to avoid endorsing the "long list of diverse and often impractical
proposals" of the protesters. But he says their activities are a symptom
of a wider crisis caused by record unemployment, rising inflation, squeezed
living standards and turmoil in the eurozone which, he says, adds to the
"sense that the economy is on the brink".
He says:
"Certainly, few people struggling to makes ends meet and worried about
what the future holds for their children will have either the time or the
inclination to camp outside a cathedral. And many people will not agree with
the demands or like the methods of the protesters. But they still present a
challenge: to the church and to business – and also to politics."
The
protesters settled on their current site three weeks ago yesterday after an
initial plan to base themselves at nearby Paternoster Square, the private
business and retail development housing the London Stock Exchange, was thwarted
by an injunction. Since then the canon, chaplain and dean of St Paul's have all
resigned amid confusion and indecision over whether the church should welcome
the protesters or move them on.
Last
Tuesday morning the Corporation of London was preparing to hand the camp a
48-hour eviction notice, but was forced to change its policy after the
cathedral publicly backed the protesters. They have since been told that they
will be allowed to continue to camp outside St Paul's until the new year.
While
distancing himself from the methods and goals of the protesters, Miliband says
this moment in time is similar to 1945, 1979 and 1997 in that a point has come
where "business as usual is not an option". He says: "This is
another of those moments because the deeper issues raised by the current crisis
are too important to be left shivering on the steps of St Paul's."
The
archbishop of York also criticised excessive salaries for top City executives,
saying that large differences in income between rich and poor "weaken
community life and make societies less cohesive". Dr John Sentamu said
that excesses in the financial sector had helped to create big inequalities,
"demonstrating how scandalously unfair our society is". He said:
"If they [FTSE 100 chief executives] have a responsibility to their staff,
it is hard to imagine a more powerful way of telling someone that they are of
little value than to pay them one-third of 1% of your salary.
"Top
pay has been found to bear little or no relation to company performance, but
even if it did, isn't the performance of a company dependent on the work and
wellbeing of all its staff?
"Among
the ill effects of very large income differences between rich and poor are that
they weaken community life and make societies less cohesive."
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