There were whistles and shouts of "shame on you" as tents were thrown in rubbish trucks when Occupy activists were evicted from outside St Paul's morning.
But the 1%, the ruling elite who won this skirmish, will not rest easily just yet. "Be assured that plans are already afoot: plans of some ambition, employing a diversity of tactics and delivered with the aplomb you would expect from us," proclaims an Occupy press release.
Occupy says it will allow activists to recuperate but is determined hold regular general assemblies – its democratic meetings – on the steps of St Paul's. In May a roaming assembly will visit all 33 London boroughs to "engage with the local community", in the words of law graduate Matthew Varnham, 22. Tents on high streets then? "It may involve pitching tents or not pitching tents," he says.
Other projects include Occupation Records, which will raise funds through pay-what-you-can downloads, and a schools programme where Occupy will address citizenship classes.
The London occupation has come at personal cost to Varnham who gave up his job as a night porter to join the protest. "I'm fortunate in that I've got a rented flat to go back to. A lot of people have lost their homes," he says, apologising for his incoherence after four nights spent on St Paul's steps.
Actually, Varnham sounds as coherent as any politician. Occupy may or may not harness the power of the 99% but some activists forged in this struggle are bound to be part of the 1% in generations to come.
