Occupy London: Richard Chartres, Bishop Of London, Calls For Protestors To Leave

Bishop Of London Calls For Protesters At St Pauls To Leave

The Bishop of London has stepped into the row over campaigners camped outside St Paul's Cathedral, saying it is "time for the protesters to leave".

Anti-capitalist protesters set up tents outside the cathedral 11 days ago.

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."

He continued: "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% 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."

According to a City of London councillor, police used infra-red images to establish that only 10% of protesters were staying at the camp overnight.

Matthew Richardson, who represents Coleman Street ward, said: "I was talking to one of the constables on the ground. It was a City of London police officer. 90% of the tents are empty. They have a thermal imaging camera. A helicopter flies over with a camera and looks in."

Meanwhile, independently-commissioned photographs from thermal imaging cameras were published in some newspapers today, apparently showing several unoccupied tents.

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