Pat Dollard

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Daily Mail:

These are the damning images that prove the anti-capitalist protest that has closed St Paul’s Cathedral is all but deserted at night.

Footage from a thermal imaging camera taken late at night reveals just a fraction of the makeshift camp was occupied.

An independent thermal imaging company, commissioned by the Daily Mail, captured these pictures after similar footage from a police helicopter found only one in ten tents were occupied after dark.

In these shots, taken late on Monday night, the presence of body heat from humans is represented by yellow and red inside the tents.

The tents that are coloured purple indicate they are colder and thus empty. The buildings behind are also yellow and red because of the higher temperatures inside.

The images suggest the vast majority of the demonstrators who gather around the cathedral to denounce capitalism during the day go home or to a hotel to stay warm at night.

But despite being an almost entirely part time protest, the activists last week forced St Paul’s to shut for the first time since the Blitz, and the cathedral appears unlikely to reopen for months.

Yesterday there were calls for the police to clear the camp at night when it is virtually empty. The Corporation of London has been talking with lawyers about launching court action, but so far no formal proceedings have begun.

Councillor Alex Deane said: ‘It is frankly farcical that most of these tents are unoccupied. It should be easier to evict part-time squatters.

‘They have to go. Surely even the protesters would agree that money spent on a lengthy court battle to clear the area would be far better spent on schools, hospitals, youth groups and housing.’

Mark Field, Tory MP for Cities of London and Westminster, said: ‘It appears it’s a daytime protest that dies off at night – so that would be the time for police to go in and remove them.’

The Bishop of London this morning also stepped into the row over the occupation, saying it is ‘time for the protesters to leave’.
Richard Chartres, the third most senior cleric in the Church of England, said in a statement: ‘This demonstration has undoubtedly raised a number of very important questions.
‘The time has come for the protesters to leave, before the camp’s presence threatens to eclipse entirely the issues that it was set up to address’

Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London
‘The St Paul’s Institute has itself focused on the issue of executive pay and I am involved in ongoing discussions with City leaders about improving shareholder influence on excessive remuneration.

‘Nevertheless, the time has come for the protesters to leave, before the camp’s presence threatens to eclipse entirely the issues that it was set up to address.

‘The Dean and the Chapter, who are responsible for St Paul’s, have already made it clear that the protest should come to an end and I fully support that view.’

His comments came as Occupy London Stock Exchange denied suggestions that 90 per cent of the tents were left unoccupied overnight.

In a statement, the group said of the claims: ‘This is simply not the case. We try to keep vacancy to a minimum and operate a sign in/sign out system to help ensure this happens.

‘When someone knows they will not be staying overnight, they offer their tent to someone else.

‘We are ordinary people with jobs and families. We are occupying in order to register our objection to being shut out of the political process.

‘The fact that we are camping out here shows how seriously we take our right to participate and be heard.’

One self-confessed part-time protester is Robin Smith, a 48-year-old former Conservative councillor for Wokingham Town Council.

He said: ‘There are lots of middle-class people turning up and helping but they have to go back home and some people come once and go away.

‘They’ve got jobs and a family to keep, so they’ve got to look after their kids or go to work. I go home every two or three nights to get cleaned up and then return to my tent.’

The daytime-only protesters make a mockery of the slogan posted on tents and buildings around the camp which declares: ‘All day, all week, we’ll sleep on London’s freezing streets. Solidarity!’

The Corporation of London fears moves to evict the protesters could be delayed because of human rights legislation.

It follows the difficulties nearby Westminster Council had trying to remove anti-Iraq War protester Brian Haw from Parliament Square.

The first attempt was turned down in 2002 in part because a High Court judge ruled Mr Haw’s vigil was protected by Human Rights Act provisions on free speech.

Mr Field called on the cathedral to reopen during any protracted legal battle to clear the site.

He said: ‘Tourists can’t see one of the jewels in the crown of London and we’ve got major events coming up, including the Lord Mayor’s Show and Remembrance Day.’

Yesterday a giant Monopoly board appeared at the camp. Instead of the names of London streets it featured cities hard hit by the global financial crisis, and the game’s symbol of a smiling capitalist wearing a top hat had been transformed into a dishevelled figure begging for hand-outs.

Protesters said the board was made by secretive artist Banksy but a spokesman for the artist was unable to verify this.

An investigation by The Telegraph verifies the fraud:

Infra red images taken by a police helicopter during the early hours show that only around 20 of the 200 tents on the encampment actually have people staying in them.

The Daily Telegraph has shot its own video of the St Paul’s camp using thermal imaging equipment which appears to confirm these claims.

The footage, shot at 1230am on Tuesday Oct 25 shows a multitude of darkly coloured tents around the courtyard indicating those that were unoccupied.

It would appear most of the protesters are heading home to sleep in their own beds at night rather than staying onsite.

On Monday the revelation was described as a “charade” and pressure was growing on the church and other authorities to evict the camp.

“It is like a phantom camp – a big charade,” said Matthew Richardson, a Corporation of London councillor, who is calling for action to be taken.

“It just shows that most of the people don’t have the courage of their convictions and are here just to make trouble and leaving your tent here overnight is a good way to do that.”