71% say protestors didn't achieve much; 66% say Corporation of London was right to evict them
In light of the recent eviction of the Occupy London protest camp at St Paul's Cathedral, the majority of Britons feel that the protestors did not achieve much/anything during their campaign, and over half of Britons claim that the Corporation of London was right to take legal action to remove them, our poll shows.
- Thinking about the possible effects of their protest, such as changing opinions, policies or raising awareness, in total, 71% feel that Occupiers did not achieve much (45% say "they did not achieve much", 26% say "they did not achieve anything at all")
- 15% feel that Occupy London achieved quite a lot
- 66% think the Corporation of London was right to take legal action to remove the protestors from outside St Paul's Cathedral
- 21% say the Corporation of London was wrong to take legal action
- Regardless of whether they agree with the protesting outside Saint Paul's Cathedral, 43% support the aims of the protestors
- 32% are not sure how they feel 26% while oppose the aims of the protestors
Occupy London set up the camp at St Paul's Cathedral on the 15th of October, 2011. The protestors have now been fully evicted from the site by the police after they lost a Court appeal.
OCCUPY 'didn’t really have a message'?
The results come in response to our recent commentary by John Humphrys in which he discussed whether the Occupiers have made any real difference.
Dan Hodges, contributing editor of political website Labour Uncut, has criticised the Occupy movement, with the BBC reporting his belief that the movement failed to send any real messages to the public "because they didn't really have a message".
After a visit to the site of Occupy London Stock Exchange, Hodge's wrote on the Total Politics website: "They may be hopelessly out of touch and misguided. But in their own way, they are sincere. They believe what they’re fighting for. The problem is they just don’t know what that is."
A 'useful corrective to financial vandalism'?
City of London lawyer, David Allen Green, has expressed praised the protestors in his open letter published in the New Statesman, in which he wrote: "In my opinion, you have been a useful if colourful corrective to the arrogance and financial vandalism.
"You have shown that progressive protests do not have to be one-day wonders with violent disorder and breathless commentary, but that they can be patient and respectful even in the face of those which you say are destroying our society and our planet."
