Steve Beasant

Commenting on the High Court decision to endorse the eviction of the Occupy London protest from outside St Paul’s, Liberal Democrat MEP for London Sarah Ludford, who is also the party’s European justice & human rights spokeswoman, said: “This decision is the right one. Protests should not morph into tent cities. The right to protest is too precious to be undermined by long-term encampments which disrupt normal life to an unacceptable extent, beyond the inevitable and legitimate inconvenience of a one-off demo.”

“I’m very pleased that the coalition, at Liberal Democrat instigation, has delivered on its promise to restore the right to demonstrate in Parliament Square. It was an affront to democracy that the Labour government removed a right that is at the heart of our parliamentary system.”

“I hope that protesters will now leave peacefully and that we won’t see violent evictions on the steps of St Paul’s.”