Bye, Bye Occupy London?

Arita Pecaka, MSc in European Politics gives an insight into her views on what the Occupy movement has achieved.

It was just past midnight on 28 February, when bailiffs, supported by the City of London Police, began to remove the tents and remove protestors who had been camped outside St Paul's Cathedral. Occupied for more than four months, the site was the spiritual home of the Occupy London movement, a place where people could collectively voice their anger at the lack of accountability of those responsible for the financial crisis. The question now to ask is what did the Occupy London Movement mean? Did it change anything and most importantly will anything be done to change the unfair system?

I clearly remember the lecture on globalisation I had in university and discussions about globalisation. Can individuals actually care about global issues more than they care about their own national issues? Can individuals really come together and fight for the common cause and make a real change?

The Occupy London and Wall Street protests has seen profound anger that no one has been called to account for the financial crisis. An international protest movement, primarily directed against economic and social inequality, the first Occupy protest to receive wide coverage was Occupy Wall Street in New York City's Zuccotti Park, which began on September 17, 2011.

By October 9, Occupy protests had taken place or were ongoing in over 95 cities across 82 countries. This on its own shows how much the Occupy movement meant for the people all across the world. It demonstrates the huge anger people posses and their frustration watching banks creating new money, enriching the wealthy, rather than creating new money to create new jobs and new wealth.

The movement appeared to have attracted many first-time protesters which indicates the importance of this issue. It is close to protestor's hearts and something they are very passionate about. Ollie Taylor, 23, from Aldershot said. "This is the first protest I've ever been to, but I feel really, really strongly about this issue."

From the moment the Occupy London occupation started it attracted the full glare of public and media attention, putting the bankers and politicians in a position where they have to think about the issue of wealth inequity and formulate their opinion in favour or against the movement.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange held a speech at the Occupy movement, stating that Wikileaks would support the protests through a campaign against financial institutions. Assange said, "This movement is not about the destruction of law. It is about the construction of law."

I believe that the movement made a strong impact on society, by raising the issue within all levels of society and forcing a discussion on the inequity of wealth distribution.

On 15 December, Jesse Jackson visited the camp at St Pauls, and showing solidarity with the protestors. He spoke about the fact that Jesus Christ , Gandhi and Martin Luther King were all occupiers, saying, "Occupy is a global spirit, which is now sweeping the nation and the world, fighting for justice for all of God's children".

In early November, Ed Miliband stated that mainstream politicians should listen to the occupiers, however, made it clear protesters should not be allowed to control the discussion.

In January 2012, Prime Minister David Cameron announced his intention to tackle excessive executive pay and 'crony' capitalism, which Financial Times columnist Philip Stephens suggested may be an indication that the PM has signed up to Occupy values.

Hence, Occupy London has brought awareness of the issues and made politicians and bankers listen to the protestors arguments. The only surprise to me, is that the occupation took so long to happen.

We shouldn't be surprised that these protests are taking place and becoming stronger voice of the people than ever before. There should be a public inquiry on the causes of financial crash, calling to account those who are guilty for it. Also we need more brave politicians to finally dare to stand up and deal with global finance issues and reassert the public interest.

The government has taken the unusual step of introducing retrospective legislation to end "aggressive tax avoidance" by financial institutions, which resulted in Barclays Bank being ordered by the Treasury to pay half-a-billion pounds in tax which it had tried to avoid. This is what the Occupy movement has been trying to highlight. The real change, is what the government has to do - more brave, bold and fair decision-making.