Occupy London protesters greet news of eviction ruling with quiet dismay

Occupy London camp lacked usual bustle as judgment was announced but protesters say it won't be the end of the movement 

guardian.co.uk, David Shariatmadari, Wednesday 18 January 2012

Occupy London protesters gather outside the high court, following news
 that the City of London corporation has won its legal bid to evict protesters
from outside St Paul's Cathedral. Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP

In contrast to the lively scenes at the high court a few hundred metres away in the Strand, a subdued St Paul's churchyard greeted with quiet dismay the news that the corporation of London had won its fight to evict the Occupy protesters. With many of the protesters at the court, where Justice Lindblom handed down his judgment shortly before 2.30pm today , the camp lacked its usual bustle and energy.

Nathan, 27, a long-haired Texan who works as the camp's librarian, was sanguine. "It's something I expected really, because we can't claim ownership of the land by title, so that's already really heavy against us," he said. "But I don't think it's a problem. I think it'll only give us strength, because we'll be forced to adapt."

There was a strong sense that, whatever happened at St Paul's, the Occupy movement as a whole would continue to make its presence felt. "Globally, Occupy is getting more and more acceptance every day. People are seeing why we're here – that we're here for economic equality."

An anonymous man in his 30s, whose tent sits directly opposite the great sweep of stairs up to the cathedral's west entrance, echoed this lack of surprise. "Obviously my reaction's disappointment but I think we sort of expected it to be honest. You know, you're dealing with the financial big boys." But he reiterated his fellow protester's point: "It won't be the end of the movement. These occupations have taken place in over 3,000 cities across the world, on all continents. Just because it's been knocked back here, it doesn't matter. The movement will keep going."

Asked what he envisaged happening now the prospect of eviction loomed, he shrugged. "We don't know what'll happen. At this point it's still early in the game, but we've been peaceful from the start and we'll be peaceful at the end."

Ray, 27, who was holding the fort at the camp's "front desk" – its information centre – was incensed. "I'm not happy with what's happened – that we're going to get evicted from here. A lot of people here are homeless. If the court wants us evicted, they'll have to get the police down and the bailiffs."

Around the camp's perimeter the usual flow of City workers and curious tourists streamed past. Some, like Elspeth, from West Yorkshire, paused to read the posters lining the library's canvas walls. "I wanted to see what it was, how big it was, I wanted to see if it was still here because you don't hear anything about it in the media now," she said of the encampment.

"I'm already impressed by what I've seen, because I think it's being run sensibly and I like the sense of co-operation about it. I find the whole Occupy movement interesting: that people are taking a stand, they're not demonstrating, they're not doing anything violent, they're just saying here we are and this is what we say."

"I think it's a great shame they're being evicted, as I don't think they're doing much harm and I think they're doing a lot of good. The other thing is – is it going to incite violence? It will be very interesting to see where the violence comes from because I don't think it'll be from the Occupy camp, I think it will be from the removers.

Related Articles:

Occupy London protesters to appeal against eviction ruling

Occupy St Paul's protesters lose high court eviction battle