St Paul’s protesters can stay for now as legal action is ‘paused’

The City of London Corporation had been due to hand a letter to the protesters yesterday, warning them they had 48 hours to clear the site or face High Court proceedings.

But it decided to put a hold on the legal action after the Chapter of St Paul’s Cathedral unanimously agreed to suspend its own legal action against those camped outside, following talks with protesters. It also announced an initiative to bring together leading city and church figures, to reconnect the financial with the ethical.

The protest outside St Paul’s, which caused it to close its doors for the first time since the Second World War because of health and safety fears, has caused divisions in the cathedral’s hierarchy and led to the resignations of its dean, the Right Rev Graeme Knowles, Canon Chancellor of St Paul’s Giles Fraser and part-time chaplain Fraser Dyer.

Stuart Fraser, the corporation’s policy chairman, said: “The church has changed its standpoint and announced it is suspending legal action on its land.

“Given that change, we’ve pressed the pause button overnight on legal action affecting the highways, in order to support the cathedral as an important national institution and give time for reflection.

“We want to leave more space for a resolution of this difficult issue, while at the same time not backing away from our responsibilities as a highway authority.

“We’re hoping to use a pause, probably of days not weeks, to work out a measured solution.”

The corporation is expected to make a further announcement today on the matter.

The cathedral said Dean Knowles’s resignation had given it the “opportunity to reassess the situation”.

Speaking after a meeting between church officials and protesters, Canon pastor the Rt Rev michael Colclough said: “This has been an enormously difficult time for the cathedral but the chapter is unanimous in its desire to engage constructively with the protest and the serious issues that have been raised, without the threat of legal action hanging over us.

“Legal concerns have been at the forefront in recent weeks but now is the time for the moral, the spiritual and the theological to come to the fore.”

He said he believed the protesters had the right to protest and hoped the church would act as a brokering agent in the dispute.

The Bishop of London, Dr Richard Chartres, said: “The alarm bells are ringing all over the world. St Paul’s has now heard that call.”

The announcement was welcomed by protesters at the camp.

Spokesman Ronan McNern said: “It is really positive and we are very excited about hopefully great new beginnings.”

The campsite was set up on October 15 after activists organised on Facebook and gathered in the City to attempt an occupation of the London Stock Exchange in imitation of anti-capitalist protests on Wall Street.

When police cordoned off the entrances to the square where the Stock Exchange is located, protesters set up tents on the nearest open space in front of the nearby cathedral instead.

The demonstration was part of a worldwide day of action.

Meanwhile protesters in Glasgow have been given 48 hours to seek legal advice after the council took them to court to have them evicted from a camp in a city centre square.

The Occupy Glasgow group, which stands in solidarity with a global “anti-greed” movement, moved into George Square on October 15.

Our church leaders out of step says GP Taylor: Page 13.