guardian.co.uk,
Press Association, Sunday 13 November 2011
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| Vince Cable said some of the Occupy London protesters' recommendations were not helpful, 'but that's not the point'. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA |
Vince Cable
has said he sympathises with the feelings of the Occupy London anti-capitalist
protesters outside St Paul's cathedral.
Speaking to
the BBC's Politics Show, the business secretary said the demonstration
reflected the feeling that a few had done "extraordinarily well" in
the economic crisis while many more had suffered.
"I
have sympathy with the emotions that lie behind it," he said. "Some
of their recommendations aren't terribly helpful, but that's not the point.
"I
think it does reflect a feeling that a small number of people have done
extraordinarily well in the crisis, often undeservedly, and large numbers of other
people who have played no part in causing the crisis have been hurt by
it."
Campaigners
set up tents outside the cathedral on 15 October, causing it to close its doors
to the public for a week.
DavidCameron said erecting tents in the middle of a city was not a
"particularly constructive" way to exercise the right to protest.
Speaking to
the House of Commons liaison committee this week, the prime minister confessed
to having the "rather quaint view" that people "shouldn't be
able to erect tents all over the place".
He added:
"Protesting you should do on two feet, rather than lying down – in some
cases in a fairly comatose state."
Meanwhile,
the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, said the protesters reflected a "crisis of
concern" in mainstream Britain that must be addressed by politicians, the
business community and the Church of England.
Writing in the Observer last week, Miliband acknowledged that those camped outside St
Paul's had "a long list of diverse and often impractical proposals"
and that many people would not agree with their demands or methods.
"But
they still present a challenge to the church and to business – and also to
politics," he wrote. "The challenge is that they reflect a crisis of
concern for millions of people about the biggest issue of our time: the gap
between their values and the way our country is run."
The camp was
set up under the name Occupy the London Stock Exchange. It plunged the
cathedral hierarchy into turmoil as its members debated how to respond, leading
to the resignations of the dean, canon chancellor and a part-time chaplain.
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