When it was just Brian Haw, I was sympathetic. The attempts to remove him from Parliament Square appeared to be more about political expediency than principle. He was occupying a relatively small part of the square, and he was expressing a legitimate, specific view.
This changed, however, when “Democracy Village” sprung up. The whole of the square was occupied to express, on a permanent basis and for an indefinite period, a series of gripes about anything and everything. It morphed from a protest into a full-on occupation.
That’s why I’m rather glad the Court of Appeal found as it did today in holding that Boris Johnson has the right to evict them.
I don’t really care for the “world heritage site” or “eyesore” arguments. My issue is that public spaces are for everyone, not a specific section of society. We accept temporary use by people we don’t agree with as the natural consequence of living in a free society. This goes well beyond that: by taking over that space until conditions are met they are effectively holding it to ransom. They have gone beyond protest and into quasi-ownership, effectively excluding others from enjoying the land. If they want to do that, they should have the decency to buy it.