occupybw

You can’t evict an idea

Essential Edinburgh will proceed with a lengthy eviction process, Occupy Edinburgh has learned today. Members of the movement had reached out to the company, offering a substantial downscale of the camp, decreasing tent presence by two-thirds and promising no overnight camping.
Andy Neal, Chief Executive of Essential Edinburgh, said that while this negotiation was an option yesterday, today the offer was now “too late”, just 24 hours later.

A member of Occupy Edinburgh and union negotiator, Willie Black, said: “It is now clear that there was no real intention to allow us to remain in St Andrew Sq; we could have made any offer, but it would have been rejected.”
Mike Ferrigan, former co-ordinator of the council-concented vigil for the Scottish Parliment said: “Considering the recent motion passed by the council supporting the Occupy Movement and protest politics as a legitimate form of representation, it is truly shameful that they have entirely withdrawn their support. We now face a legal battle with a company which claims to represent over 500 businesses; it seems the council-approved motion of support was all talk.”

Chris Sharp said: “It seems the right to protest only justifies actions that our politicians can (and do) ignore. The City of London Corporation claim that peaceful protests are a ‘daily occurance’ and yet they have only increased their reckless practices over the last decade.”

Jamie Mann said: “We have found out the hard way that the offer of negotiation with Essential Edinburgh was merely an illusion. We have complied with the requests of the company including downsizing the camp for Christmas and Hogmanay events. Essential Edinburgh are funded by the businesses in central Edinburgh and ultimately, allowing the camp to remain protesting against corporate greed would not be in thier interests.”

You can’t evict an idea.

We were asked by Edinburgh Evening News and the Scotsman to comment on the story that appeared on Monday 9th January 2012. The full story can be found online here. Here was our response:

Is it really time for Occupy Edinburgh to go?

This seems to be the opinion of Conservative Councillor Mowat who has said that Occupy Edinburgh has ‘made their point’. (We regret that the Evening News did not gain the opinions of the other four parties which unanimously supported us in the Council vote in November). If this were really the case then we expect Ms. Mowat to have already proposed new legislation tackling the blatant corruption and injustice that still permeates the very core of our society.
Will the council of Edinburgh take the lead in ensuring fair tax is paid by all, that the risky derivatives market is regulated or that re-hypothecation of assets in the billions is stopped? Will they invest directly in local businesses rather than encourage exploitative lending by the banks, and restore the power to create money to the public and not private institutions? These are our points, and the council have yet to do anything to show they have acknowledged or are dealing with these issues, despite openly declaring support for them.

There are various arguments about whether or not Occupy Edinburgh should remain in the square, from claiming a decrease in business, to the fact that the square is, in fact, owned by private companies, and the ridiculous “they’re killing the grass” argument. Firstly, it is we at Occupy Edinburgh who are protesting the austerity measures, which are leading to reduced business everywhere, not just around the square. Secondly, if the square is privately owned then why was is it £1.2m of public money that is spent renovating it and keeping it tidy? And thirdly, grass grows back..with added crocuses.

We have maintained a good and cooperative relationship with Andy Neal of Essential Edinburgh, rearranging our camp to allow the Christmas festivities to take place in the same manner that they do every year. We have done our utmost to keep the square tidy and safe despite the hurricanes, cold weather and drunken abuse from those outside of the movement.

The campsite is a microcosm of society at large, with many of its problems. The difference is that while society at large has been afforded public help, the square has not. The movement in St. Andrew Square has done remarkably well at finding productive places in society for some of the hardest hit by the current broken system. Instead of simply evicting the whole of Occupy Edinburgh in order to disperse a minority with alcohol or drug issues, the council and local organisations should be using this opportunity to reach out and actually help them.

Members of Occupy camps from around the UK met in Edinburgh from Fri 16th to Sun 18th December 2011 for the second national conference of UK occupiers. All comers were welcome.
In attendance were members of Occupy camps already established in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Leeds, Liverpool, London (St Paul’s and Bank of Ideas), Newcastle, Norwich and Sheffield. The conference:
1. Was pleased to note the growing support for Occupy around the UK and beyond;
2. Resolved to share resources, skills and enthusiasm to help fellow occupiers negotiate the upcoming distracting period of court cases and bad weather as we move towards Spring;
3. The foundations of Occupy in the UK had now been laid and the movement was now ready to forge ahead in 2012, with resources in place to enable new members and occupations no matter where they are in the UK;
4. Expressed solidarity with Occupiers around the world especially those experiencing oppression this weekend in NYC;
5. Unanimously dubbed the event “inspiring” and “a total success”.

Sessions were held on logistics, safer spaces, political campaigning, transparency and reliability in dealing with donations, media, social networking policy and winterisation, together with other ways to assist fellow members of the Occupy Movement. Among other decisions made were the agreement of a new safer spaces policy, a new autonomy statement for discussion by individual general assemblies, the compilation of an Occupiers’ Handbook, the foundation of a new cross-site women’s group and the design of a new national website to co-ordinate the dissemination of information.

The conference confirmed its commitment to campaign for a world that is no longer designed for the benefit of the 1%. We seek a more egalitarian and fair society, an open and peaceful environment for discussion, and inclusiveness for people of all backgrounds. We seek a twenty first century Enlightenment.

Conference looked forward to the third national conference which will be held 21-23 January 2012 in Sheffield.

The Scottish Green Party have today lodged a motion supporting Occupy Edinburgh and the global Occupy Movement to the Scottish Parliament. The motion consists of the same sentiments, which were put brought to the Edinburgh City Council by the Greens in November. Occupy Edinburgh and the global Occupy Movement received full backing from the Council following unanimous support from all elected members, excepting the Conservative group.

The motion will not be debated by the parliament, but individual MSPs will be given the chance to support it. Members of Occupy Edinburgh hope that SNP and Labour will make the same proposal in the New Year so it can be debated in Holyrood, which would allow the motion to be passed by a full session of parliament.

Alison Johnstone MSP supported by Patrick Harvie MSP will lodge a motion to the Scottish Parliament today as follows:

“Title: Support for Occupy

That the Parliament welcomes many of the sentiments expressed by those involved in the ‘Occupy’ protests across the world, agrees that there is a continuing need to reduce inequalities in society between the rich and poor, agrees that further reforms are needed to the UK and international banking and financial systems, understands that ‘Occupy’ is an attempt to redirect economic decisions and systems towards more sustainable and equitable outcomes, understands that there is legitimate frustration with financial structures and governance systems that concentrate wealth in the hands of the few, and agrees that protest is a legitimate form of political activity.”

We have received news that the City of London Corporation has issued
eviction notices to members camping outside the London Stock Exchange
and St. Paul’s Cathedral. We understand that the OccLSX General
Assembly agreed last Thursday to reject the demands of the City of
London Corporation on the basis that they were, in fact, unjustified
ultimatums which exposed the movement to legal action at a later date,
rather than negotiable demands. A counter-proposal was presented to
the Corporation stating that OccLSX would be prepared to continue
dialogue if the Corporation:

a) made itself accountable to the public under the Freedom of
Information Act.

b) published details of the City Cash account.

c) was more open about the lobbying activities it has undertaken since
the financial crisis of 2008

These demands are not unreasonable and are simply the same laws and
regulations that every other local authority must adhere to. The
Corporation decided to reject these demands and instead press forward
with the eviction based on the claim the protesters were blocking a
highway. We understand that St. Paul’s has decided not to support the
eviction and that protesters on Church land should be safe from
eviction.

We stand in support of OccupyLSX for a fairer democracy and economic
system. These ideas that the camp symbolises will only become more
significant with the corrupt and undemocratic City of London
Corporation continuing legal battle to evict the protesters.

Press Release
16/11/11

Chief executive of the non-profit organisation Essential Edinburgh visited our camp tonight to discuss the arrangement of our camp and how it could be re-calibrated in order to accommodate the winter festivities planned to take place within the square.

Occupy Edinburgh consented Mr Neil’s proposal to move our tents and camping equipment to the edges of the square to free the central area to allow the inclusion of a stage, lights and decorations and an area for the public to view the festivities.

In addition, the chief executive offered our camp additional storage to accommodate the space we will lose.

Mr Neil promised that our occupation could re-convene in the center of the square when the winter festivities end on January 4th 2012.

The Green Group on the Edinburgh City Council has submitted a motion, asking that the council support our Occupy Edinburgh. The motion will be considered at a full council meeting on the 24th of November.

For more information contact the Occupy Edinburgh Media Team at occupyedinburghmedia@gmail.com