This Saturday! Occupy London Tours invites new Lord Mayor (and you!) on sightseeing tour of the City
Occupy London Tours has invited the new Lord Mayor to join their alternative walking tour of the City of London [1], after he used a newspaper interview to attack the protest as ‘dreadful’ [2].
On the day he was sworn-in at the secretive ‘Silent Ceremony’, Roger Gifford criticised the ‘terrible mess’ caused by last year’s Occupy London camp at St Paul’s Cathedral [3]. But on this Saturday’s (17 November) free tour, protesters plan to hit back by exposing the dubious history of the City and its arcane political structures. The tour will focus on the role of finance in Britain, from the days of empire to the 2008 crash, and the pernicious influence of the City on British democracy.
The tour will begin at St Paul’s (2pm on Saturday 14 November) taking in the Bank of England, Mansion House, and scenes of financial disaster old and new. Along the way sightseers will also learn about the original Dick Whittington, Nathan Rothschild’s pigeons, and T.S. Eliot’s days as a discontented banker. After a meandering walk through the Square Mile it will finish in Tower Hamlets, which borders the City and yet has the highest rate of child poverty in the country [4].
Liam Taylor, 26, a school teacher and tour guide, says: “The Lord Mayor has accused our tents of causing a ‘terrible mess’. He should be more concerned about the terrible mess that his fellow bankers have made of our economy. We invite him to join our tour on Saturday – after all, his house is one of the main sights.” [5]
Mike Anderson, 25, adds: “After the pomp and ceremony of the Lord Mayor’s show, this tour will show you the side of the City that the Lord Mayor doesn’t want you to see. It’s a bizarre world where Goldman Sachs votes, the Lord Mayor is chosen by the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, and the police are reigning Olympic champions [6]. Meanwhile the City’s reckless and unaccountable behaviour is causing people in the rest of the country to lose our jobs, our homes and our services.”
The tour is free, open to all and is aimed at ordinary tourists rather than political activists. Those wishing to join the tour should meet on the steps of St Paul’s on Saturday 17 November at 2pm, and look out for the tour guide with the umbrella. Occupy Tours also offers tours of Mayfair hedge funds and Canary Wharf [7], with the next tour of Mayfair at 2pm on Saturday 24 November and Canary Wharf at 6pm on Thursday 29 November.
Notes
[1] The tour will start at 2pm on Saturday 24 November, leaving from the steps of St Paul’s. For more information, see www.occupytours.org.
E-mail: occupylondontours@googlemail.
Telephone: 07505607844
Twitter: @occupytours
[2] ‘New Lord Mayor of London’s Question for Occupy: did you have to make such a mess?’, The Independent, 9 November 2012, http://www.independent.
[3] Ibid.
[4] According to the Campaign to End Child Poverty, 52% of children in Tower Hamlets live in poverty (January 2012). http://endchildpoverty.
[5] Mansion House, one of the stops on the tour, is the official residence of the Lord Mayor.
[6] Businesses, including Goldman Sachs, can vote in local elections for the Corporation of London.
The Lord Mayor himself is elected by 108 livery companies. http://www.
The City of London police are the reigning champions in the tug-of-war, last contested in 1920. http://www.cityoflondon.
[7] The next tour of Mayfair is at 2pm on Saturday 24 November. The next tour of Canary Wharf is at 6pm on Thursday 29 November. For more info, see www.occupytours.org
