Occupy Liverpool

Liverpool has been a bit of a late adopter of the Occupy movement but a camp has suddenly sprung up over the past few days around the base of Wellington's Column in front of the Walker Art Gallery.

I went down there this morning just as the protesters were having breakfast in the white tent on the right.

As the day's gone on we've had some heavy rain and wind and the weather's definitely been colder these last few days but the protesters have expressed their determination to stay throughout the winter, whatever the conditions.

To my mind, the emergence of this camp on the eve of tomorrow's national public sector strike just underlines the ongoing strength of opposition to national and international approaches to tackling the global economic crisis we find ourselves in.

The Occupy Liverpool protesters say,

We, the Occupy Liverpool General Assembly, have joined in league with the rest of the world on this mission, and we urge you to assert your power. Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone. To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal. Join us and make your voices heard!

Best wishes to all involved in Occupy Liverpool and to the Occupy movement everywhere.

PS If you're interested, here's a good article about Occupy Wall Street by Naomi Wolf.