Tent City at St Paul's

I took a stroll down to St Paul's Cathedral today to see the erstwhile tent city ... putative anti capitalist statement. I didn't go round to Paternoster Square to see if there were any more tents there. There are not that many tents, ugly as the ones I saw are. I saw one archetypal tie dye/dreadlock type, the sort of person often to be found swanning around the Far East with no objective in mind except sloth and hiding from reality.

I went to see and to take photos: I did both.

My reaction is that we are just too soft on these people by leaving them there. On the other hand some of what they say is right: not Mr Tie Dye, however!

When I was prevented from flying to Bangkok from Singapore because of the Red Shirt sit in there three years ago, I asked a taxi driver in Singapore what he thought about that sit: he replied, we would find them work.

These squatters would say that's the point, there is no work ... but listen carefully, the taxi driver said WORK not a job.

On the other hand, I believe these people are in the wrong place. They've been bought off by a donation from Barclays. Lots of city types have donated small sums of cash to the squatters too. Go and squat where the capitalists work or live, not outside a church. I understand your marketing strategy of course!

Where is the anger over torture of Afghans by Afghans? Why are they not squatting outside the Zimbabwe Embassy over the crimes against humanity perpetrated there? How about finding their way to helping the flooded of Thailand Mr Tie Dye?

Go and squat in Shar E Naw and argue with the Taliban and try to give hope to Afghanistan.

What about the tens of thousands of pensioners in Georgia who had half of their pensions stolen month after month? They needed your help too.

As my Maths teacher used to say: RAWW: right answer, wrong workings!!

DW