AND THE GREAT DOORS CLOSED

Written 26 October 2011

The last time the great doors of St Paul's Cathedral closed, reluctantly, was at the height of the London Blitz.

To younger less informed readers the London Blitz was the terror bombing and attempted destruction of the Capital, and with it, the will of the People; to us up here in Liverpool, a much bigger version of the eight day Liverpool Blitz in May 1941 which had the same failed intent.

Some may ask the reason for the last paragraph. Good question. In town the other day several young people thought it was the name of a bar of chocolate - and attempting to describe reality was even more frustrating, mainly because of the yawning indifference and boredom in reply.

So to any teachers reading this: note well. Regardless of what subject you primarily teach, each and every teacher has a duty to underpin all teaching with the lessons of history.

Ironically, I bet the response would have been different again had the kids been told the Blitz was a new and exciting computer wargame. Ermmm. Maybe I should create that and make a lot of dosh in the process. But I won't!

So, the great doors remain closed. Services are held in private with no congregation. By day the comfortable dysfunctional middle classes encamp about St Paul's, talk of the evil of capitalism, the need for its overthrow, the demands for sacrifice - camping out on the freezing streets of London.

Laudable. Except that these dysfunctional people, these irritants, these malcontents, promptly return home to baths, showers, hot meals and beds and the chance to make up flasks and packed lunches for the next great strike against evil. Oh, and jobs. Oh, and spouses, partners and young families, the school run tomorrow.

To every man and woman is the right to protest, and I guard that right jealously. But with it comes the need for common sense and consideration for others.

Have I made a valid protest? Yes.

Have I achieved my aim? Actually, yes. I've inconvenienced the establishment (of which secretly I'm quite happy to be a part) and made the authorities consider my point of view.

Am I right to continue? No.

Am I right to inconvenience everyone else? No.

Am I being selfish? Yes.

Am I falling into that most dangerous trap of all - hypocrisy and double standards? Most definitely.

So, go home, get on with your work and work for the good of everyone. We are not interested in your airy-fairy pontifications. We've listened. We've taken note. Now let London, our Capital return to normal. Or as we up here in Liverpool would say:

On yer bike, beat it, tent n all!

Or, as the Bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard Chartres, puts it rather more eloquently:

"The time has come for the protesters to leave, before the camp's presence threatens to eclipse entirely the issues that it was set up to address."

Ian Bradley Marshall
LIVERPOOL
26 October 2011