St Paul’s – Cathedral is blasted for stance on protesters

A C of E bishop has likened the clergy at St Paul’s Cathedral to “self-important public school boys” as a second member of staff resigned over its decision to evict the protesters on its doorstep and a third was considering his position.

The Bishop of Buckingham, Alan Wilson, condemned the managers of St Paul’s for their “hysterical overreaction” in shutting the cathedral, urging them to join “the real world”.

As the ongoing conflict over how the Church should deal with the Occupy London protest camp claimed another scalp, the bishop questioned whether the cathedral’s management could redeem themselves.

He asked on his blog: “Do they have the stomach to engage in the real world at the crest of a tidal race between people, money and power, or are they just overgrown public schoolboys playing indoor games in their own self-important Tourist Disneyland?”

The bishop’s damning assessment came as Fraser Dyer, a cathedral chaplain, followed in the footsteps of Rev Dr Giles Fraser, the Canon Chancellor, and resigned from his position, citing “disappointment” at the decision to pursue legal action against the activists.

The Daily Telegraph disclosed that another senior figure, Canon Mark Oakley, a member of the Chapter, may also consider his position untenable, having voted against going to court to evict the demonstrators.

He told the newspaper’s Mandrake column: “I couldn’t vote for any course of action that might lead at some point to violent behaviour.”

As St Paul’s reopened its doors after a six-day closure, the backlash over the protest and the way it had been handled showed little sign of subsiding with both the Corporation of London and the cathedral confirming that they would pursue a legal action which could last at least three months.

David Cameron indicated that he would consider changing the law to prevent activists from pitching tents “almost anywhere” they pleased.

He described the closure of St Paul’s, the first since the Blitz, as “very concerning” and urged all sides to seek a resolution.

Speaking in Perth, Australia, the Prime Minister said: “I do think there is a broader issue here – I’m all in favour of the freedom to demonstrate, but I don’t quite see why the freedom to demonstrate has to include the freedom to pitch a tent almost anywhere you want to in London. Of course we need the right to protest but these tents – whether in Parliament Square or whether in St Paul’s – I don’t think is the right way forward, and I do think we need to look at this whole area and I’m very keen that we do.”

Rev Dyer, curate at St Peter De Beauvoir Town in east London, who worked part time at St Paul’s, said he had been left feeling “embarrassed” by the controversial position taken by the Dean and the Chapter.

In his resignation letter, published online, he wrote: “I do not relish the prospect of having to defend the cathedral’s position in the face of the inevitable questions that visitors to St Paul’s will pose in the coming weeks and months, particularly if we are to see protesters forcibly removed by police at the Dean and Chapter’s behest.”

He added: “I am sorry that the story has become one about the Church and not about the City.”

Kit Malthouse, deputy mayor of London, mischievously suggested turning sprinklers on the protest camp, which does not contain any grass.

He said: “In the past when we have been puzzling through issues around Parliament Square I’ve always been concerned about the state of the grass, which can get very dry. Putting high-powered sprinklers on the square that would come on at 3am or 4am would have all sorts of added benefits for the square. If that happened to make it inconvenient for people to camp because of our decision to keep the grass watered then that’s obviously an added bonus.”

Ten arrests have been made at the camp since October 15, for public order offences, possession of drugs and a knife and an assault on a police officer.

One protester, Nigel McCorkell, 43, was handed a community sentence after District Judge Elizabeth Roscoe, sitting at Westminster Magistrate’s Court, said it was important to preserve the right to “legitimate protest”. 

The unemployed carpenter was arrested for hurling a beer can at police lines.

Eight Christian organisationshave backed the Occupy London protests as the activists issued a list of demands such as the democratisation of the City of London and the abolition of the City’s own police force.