Occupy Brighton: The End?

The Occupy Brighton protest camp has ended amidst storms, high winds and a fire. The BBC reports:

Police said the majority of the Occupy Brighton protesters left peacefully but a minority set fire to furniture and the fire service was called.

One of the officers was pushed to the ground while putting out the fire.

The leader of Brighton's Green-run council, Bill Randall, said because of this he would not tolerate another similar camp in future.

The camp was set up in Victoria Gardens at the beginning of November in response to similar camps outside St Paul's Cathedral, in London, and Wall Street, New York.

It had previously been praised by the Green administration.

'Peaceful protest'

Ch Insp Simon Nelson, from Sussex Police, said: "It is disappointing that after many weeks of peaceful occupation an event has occurred which put the safety of others at risk, damaged the environment and resulted in a public servant being assaulted.

"Most of the occupiers were committed to a peaceful protest and even assisted with clearing the site, but over a period of time the camp had been infiltrated by others who did not share this commitment."

One of the occupiers, Malcolm Cook, said the camp had started to attract people with drug and alcohol problems.

A large part of the camp's infrastructure was destroyed by bad weather, resulting in the occupiers deciding to leave.

However, he said he was proud of what the camp had accomplished.

"I'm overwhelmed with what it has achieved," he said. "The amount of attention we've received for our cause, for a few tents in the park, is outstanding."

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So as the camps close down either through bad weather or other reasons, where now for the Occupy Movement? Has the spark burned out? The major occupation at S Paul's still seems to be strong, but even that is earmarked for removal in the New Year if the weather doesn't do it first. Whilst the movement such as it is has made a big impact and has certainly got people talking about the heart of issues within capitalism, there still lacks a cohesive majority agreed consensus on what is to be done. Hopefully the dialogues started can be continued and the conclusions drawn that only by doing away with the entire system can any progress be made for the vast majority of humanity.

SussexSocialist