Occupy London

Occupy London was a political movement in London, England, and part of the international Occupy movement. While some media described it as an "anti-capitalist" movement, in the statement written and endorsed by consensus by the Occupy assembly in the first two days of the occupation, occupiers defined themselves as a movement working to create alternatives to an "unjust and undemocratic" system. A second statement endorsed the following day called for "real global democracy". Due to a pre-emptive injunction, the protesters were prevented from their original aim to camp outside the London Stock Exchange. A camp was set up nearby next to St Paul's Cathedral. On 18 January 2012, Mr Justice Lindblom granted an injunction against continuation of the protest but the protesters remained in place pending an appeal. The appeal was refused on 22 February, and just past midnight on 28 February, bailiffs supported by City of London Police began to remove the tents.

The protests began in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York, United States, and with support from tax avoidance protest group UK Uncut and the London-based contingent of the Spanish 15M movement. In October protesters established a second encampments in Finsbury Square just to the north of the City of London. In November, a third site was opened in a disused office complex owned by UBS. Named by protesters as the Bank of Ideas, the site was located in Hackney and was evicted in late January 2012.

A fourth site was established in late December, at the disused premises of Old Street Magistrates Court in east London. The site's owners objected to its proposed long-term use by occupiers, and agreement was reached for the building to be vacated by the end of January 2012. In February 2012, occupiers were evicted from their main camp at St Paul's, and from the Bank of Ideas, leaving Finsbury Square as the last London site to remain occupied. The Finsbury Square camp was cleared by authorities in June 2012.