When the LGMG went on the Cock Lane Ghost Walk last October this was what it looked like as we passed St Paul's Cathedral, not knowing when we started whether we would be able to get anywhere near the place, rather inconveniently as that was one of my planned stops. In the event it was a wedding rather than protestors who got in our way more.
Today the Occupy London protest has been cleared from the steps of the Cathedral, ending the chaotic and catastrophic series of events which ravaged the Chapter, brought resignations and unfavourable headlines the nation over. It ought to have been obvious right from the start what was going to happen, but the Church of England has an unfortunate tendency to favour the gesture over the substance; various members of the cathedral staff wrung their hands about being seen to do the exact opposite of 'turning the moneychangers out of the Temple', thus only delaying the dreadful day when that happened. So now we have hypocrisy as well as inevitable connivance with the World. I like to think that, had I been Dean of St Paul's when the protest started, I'd've come down the steps and told the assembled boys and girls, 'You're completely right, and I agree with everything you say. And now you're going to go and say it somewhere else. Oh look, a bulldozer.' I'm not sure I would have had the guts, though.
My friend Ms Orphanides has a wonderfully sane assessment of the whole Occupy phenomenon here, which is especially valuable as she actually had some interaction with it.
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