The activist occupation in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral, next to the London Stock Exchange, was given a major boost today when Canon Giles Fraser emerged from the cathedral earlier this morning to defend their right to protest.

He also told protesters he had asked the police to leave last night but they refused to do so.

The Canon said:

People have a right to protest and I’m very happy that people have that right to protest. People have generally been respectful and I have asked the police to leave, they are going to be doing so in a second. It seems to me that all is well and calm.

I’ve seen what is going on and it seems to be that there doesn’t need police force in the numbers that there have been, so I have asked them to move and they have done.

Yesterday evening the Metropolitan Police tweeted a message saying, “St Paul’s Cathedral need to prepare for its Sunday services. We advise anyone outside St Paul’s to start leaving,” without official request from officials at St Paul’s Cathedral.

But the Met’s stunt backfired.

Around 250 people camped overnight at the location, despite attempts by the police to remove them.

Representatives from OccupyLSX say they are in dialogue with Canon Fraser to ensure everything runs smoothly for worshippers at the cathedral too.

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