Goodbye Democracy Village

Isn’t it terribly ironic that in choosing to set up camp in a mission to bring world peace, London’s Democracy Village in fact started its very own war – albeit a relatively mini one, without any guns. 

It seems the actions of these tent-happy protesters, who set up home and garden in Parliament Square on May 1 but have since been evicted, got several other London camps all worked up.

The Greater London Authority was embroiled in a legal battle to have the campers forcibly removed. Mayor Boris Johnson said the protesters were abusing bylaws, damaging the land and transforming a heritage site into an unsanitary eyesore, at the cost of the London consumer.

And it would appear that most of us agreed with him. A poll released recently by YouGov found that the majority of Londoners wanted the protesters moved on.

In a statement, Democracy Village says the peaceful protest was an experiment, and that it had been given a bad rep by the media. My first thought is that if Democracy Village had a dedicated press officer, surely it could have organised adequate sanitation provisions. 

I truly believe in our nation’s democratic rights of freedom to protest and freedom of speech. Here is where I cease to comprehend Democracy Village’s actions: when a protest sparks such opposition that there is widespread protest against such a protest, why couldn’t the village dwellers recognise that what they were doing was wholly unconstructive? Residents say they achieved a lot, but as far as I can tell said achievements stretched to the creation of a makeshift homeless shelter and a provisional herb garden. 

The majority of residents who were living in Democracy Village were most likely anti-establishment, and I’m convinced that they will continue to fight for their right to go back to Parliament Square. Indeed, when protesters were given their original marching orders at the beginning of this month (before the High Court gave them a temporary reprieve to stay), they issued a call to action for more fellow anti-war activists, communists and anarchists to come join the party. 

But all this seemed to be achieving was animosity between protesters, lawmakers, and Londoners. 

All in the name of world peace.

Image by EmPemm courtesy of Flickr