SHOWING WHAT MAKES A SOCIETY DYSFUNCTIONAL

This is Lee Turnpenny's First Person column, published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Showing what makes a society dysfunctional

Lee Turnpenny thinks we should pay more heed to the research of the Equality Trust

A while ago I attended a talk by Richard Wilkinson, co-author (with Kate Pickett) of The Spirit Level. Through accessible presentation and explanation of data, this book reveals that the dysfunctionality of a society is determined not by its average income level relative to other societies, but by the extent of income inequality within – that is, the breadth of the gap between its rich and poor.

Since the book was published in 2009, the busting of capitalism's flush brings no alleviation to this sorry state of affairs. Cuts and job losses disproportionately affect those at the lower end of the income scale, while those responsible still reap perversely massive bonus pay-outs.

The backlash is under way in the form of peaceful "Occupy" protests in various countries. And it is good to see. But as ever, there is the inevitable right-wing attempt to undermine and discredit the research. Not unlike those – often political – movements that expend time and cash muddying clear scientific waters around climate change or evolution, right-wing free market ideologues pour scorn on the findings of Wilkinson and Pickett, stoking controversy, and positing their own counter-"data" in books such as The Spirit Level Delusion.

Anyway, don't take my word for it. However, I was interested to discover an Early Day Motion (EDM) on this issue tabled last year by Caroline Lucas (leader of the Green Party and its sole MP). EDMs are a parliament facility for MPs to bring all manner of matters to the attention of the House (often seemingly for no other reason than that they can). EDM 1775, entitled "Income Inequality", states:"That this House notes the findings of the Equality Trust that societies with smaller income differences between rich and poor have fewer health and social problems, such as teenage births, violence, mental illness and drug abuse; further notes that such societies have higher levels of trust between citizens and more social mobility; and therefore encourages the Government to promote policies that reduce income inequality."

Well, I knocked off a letter to my MP, in order to persuade that consideration of a signature on this would be worthwhile.

Unsuccessfully, as it turns out. EDMs receive varying attention from MPs, so absence of signatures cannot reliably indicate where your MP actually is on an issue. However, I recommend taking a look at EDM 1775, and seeing whether there is anything that strikes you as, err... under-represented? Or would that be a presupposition?

It is also worth visiting The Equality Trust site, where, if you feel strongly on this, a facility for contacting your own MP is provided.

Lee Turnpenny blogs on science at: http://blogs.nature.com/u71147cba/

MAPPING FAITH & PLACE: 2nd SEMINAR

At St Philip's Parish Church, Evington this morning for the latest seminar in the University of Leicester's Mapping Faith and Place project. Mapping Faith and Place is funded by the Art and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) within their funding stream, "Care for the Future: Thinking Forward Through the Past".

The core aim of the project is explore the significance of South Asian religions and cultural heritage in Leicester's urban landscape. The wider context for this work, of course, includes the other aspects of religious and cultural identity and life in the city. There's more to the diversity of Leicester in terms of faith and belief than just the South Asian representation - as the project acknowledges, both in these workshops and in its print and online publications.

This is the second of three seminars for this project. You can read earlier blog posts for the first seminar (which I didn't attend) and the launch event (which I did), both of which took place in October last year. The third seminar will be held at the University of Leicester on a date yet to be decided, followed by a final conference in the summer (although it's hoped that the project will continue beyond that period of initial funding).

Leicester Council of Faiths lent a hand at various stages of this project (although if we'd grasped how significant Mapping Faith and Place is, we'd surely have done more to help). We borrowed the two pop-up banners for our display at Highcross during Inter Faith Week a couple of months ago, when we also distributed many copies of the Leicester Faith Trail booklet. Members of staff (Dr Deirdre O'Sullivan and Dr Ruth Young - both of whom are here today) and students from the School of Archaeology and Ancient History took part in that exhibition. I'm returning the banners today.

Jen Dickson (Lecturer in Geography at the University of Leicester) kicks off the day's proceedings, outlining some key academic ideas relating to this second seminar. Today we're considering how people develop a relationship with a place, a sense of belonging to a place (and of a place belonging to you). This sense of identity is complex and contested. It's no longer tenable to believe in a discreet, fixed, lifelong identity (which leads only to stereotyping). It's not simply a case of having a single identity, made up of different elements, more a case of multiple identities, which change in relation to space and time; not so much about possessing particular characteristics, more about how we perceive ourselves, especially in relation to others.

Our senses and emotions help determine whether we feel included or excluded in a place or a community associated with it, attached to or detached from them (applies to places and/or objects near and/or far). This brings to mind the particular example of RNIB College Loughborough's Faith and Reflection Room (see blog entry, Friday 16 December2011).

We discuss how contemporary politicians are co-opting debates about belonging, inclusion and exclusion, manipulating power and/or processes that permit inclusion or exclusion, in relation to Big Society, volunteering or where it is or isn't acceptable to dress or behave in certain ways (e.g. wearing the burka). We consider how individuals and groups resist such manipulation in modern society (e.g. Occupy movement)

There are 18 attendees here today, of mixed ages, backgrounds, cultures, faiths and traditions (though I'm sorry to note that there's no one from the Jain Centre or the Nagarjuna Kadampa Buddhist Centre, since they're both such prominent faith sites in the city centre). We’ve each been asked to bring an object with us that connects us to somewhere sacred. Now, I’m sure I don’t need to explain here that "sacred" means "set apart". This seminar is about sacred places, but it also helps shows us in what ways all sorts of things could be considered sacred. That can include things more abstract, including ways of being or doing, feeling, speaking and thinking. It could even be a narrative (I like that - it means even my blog could be considered sacred!)

The Leicester Bahá'í community has no public centre or place of worship these days, although I do mention on occasions such as this that the Bahá'ís had their own official meeting place in New Walk for several years from 1957, before there was a single gurdwara, mandir or mosque in Leicester. Despite this present lack (and without mentioning the historical anomaly) the Bahá'í Faith has its own page in the Leicester Faith Trail booklet published as one of the outcomes of this project.

Similarly, Bahá'ís tend to be "artifact-light" (I just made that up, but I'm sure you get my meaning) at least of the kind that fit into the typical resource boxes you might find in schools or museums. There's little to put in display cases in settings such as the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art in Glasgow for example. There's irony here, inasmuch as the Bahá'ís were one of the most enthusiastic and supportive organisations behind the creation of the museum, but once the decision was made to concentrate on artifacts and objects, then it was a foregone conclusion that they'd be virtually excluded from representation in it.

Bahá'ís have always had a very rich historical self-awareness, consciously collecting, deliberately preserving and systematically archiving material items of all sorts. This is done nationally, internationally and locally, as anyone who has visited the International Archives at the Bahá'í World Centre on Mt Carmel, or has seen items from the British Bahá'í community's archives collection, such as those put on display at the National Bahá'í Centre in London during the recent celebration of the centenary of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's first visit Britain (see blog entry, Saturday 17 September 2011) will know.

But these are sacred items, relics, one-offs; they may amaze, inspire or thrill Bahá'ís but may appear trivial or incomprehensible to others. They aren't things used every day, nor are they everyday things that are used by Bahá'ís in their practice, individually or collectively.

So, within the parameters of the Mapping Faith and Place project, in what sense are the Bahá'ís a community when, for the most part, there are no physical centres, no meeting places for collective worship, when they gather in each others' homes or in rented or borrowed venues? I long ago understood (in my own limited capacity) what it means to be a community of common commitment, of ideas, of love for the same Beloved. We can be the exception that proves the rule here.

When I arrive this morning, Revd. John Hall has thoughtfully collected a small number of Bahá'í books and leaflets from the library in the St Philip's Centre next door and laid them out on display, in case I wanted to draw on them today. That's as close to artifacts as Bahá'ís ever get!

The kind of objects people have brought with them today include books, items of clothing, physical artifacts ancient and modern, original or replica, photos etc.

When we're called on to do pairs work about our object, I'm teamed with Surinder Pal Singh, General Secretary of Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara, East Park Road. While he doesn't have any one particular object with him, he describes how the five Ks are the objects of belonging and identity, not attached to any particular place, but which he takes with him everywhere - which make his whole body a sacred site.

We're asked to consider the following questions in relation to the personal object we've brought with us today:

1. How does it represent you?
2. What aspects of your identity in particular does it highlight?
3. What does it say about you personally and as a member of a community?
4. How does it represent your relation to Leicester?
5. How might it represent identity in the past, present and to future generations?
6. If it does not represent past, present or future identities, why not? What object would?

I had no trouble choosing my object for this exercise today. When I asked Clare to guess what it would be, she said, "I bet it's your bloomin' iPhone!" And it is. Here are a few of the reasons why this is the object I've brought to this event today. I'm not expecting anyone else to agree with me (or even to understand my explanations):

• Google Maps. I prefer to walk wherever I can in Leicester. Even if it takes an hour or more, I'd rather walk. I would describe myself as a flaneur. Baudelaire defines the flaneur as "someone who walks the city in order to experience it." This is definitely the case when going to (and often returning from) the 19 Day Feast. Beware any routes described by Google Maps as "beta versions". "Use with caution" indeed. First time I looked up the walking route to one venue for the 19 Day Feast and it sent me one way that took more than 45 minutes. Next time, it showed me a route that took 24!
• Podcasts. I usually listen to podcasts of Astronomy Cast on my iPhone while on my way to the Feast. 'Abdu'l-Bahá instructs us that, "before entering [the Feast] free yourselves from all that you have in your heart, free your thoughts and your minds from all else save God, and speak to your heart". Odd as it may sound to you, faithful reader, listening to my favourite podcast, about the origin, history, present condition and future of the universe helps give me a sense of my place in the scheme of things. I don't see how anyone could attend to such matters and still consider themselves the centre of creation. It's like the Total Perspective Vortex from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (but in a good way!)
• Twitter. I can connect with Bahá'ís in other places, who are similarly anticipating or preparing for their 19 Day Feast, or who may recently have held theirs. It's not just those Bahá'ís whom I follow on Twitter or who follow me; I find the unpredictability, the randomness, not knowing who will see or respond to the hashtags #Bahai or #19dayfeast while on my way to the Feast genuinely intriguing and connecting.

I'd like to think that this will connect with the topic of the next seminar, which will consider how new technologies can be used to represent place.

After lunch, we further explore the articulation of identities, specifically religious identities, through the mind, body and the senses. We ask:

1. How are religious identities articulated in private home spaces through food and fasting; dress; music; dance; ritual practices?
2. How can religious identities or belief systems be articulated though the body in public spaces?
3. How can religious identities or belief systems be articulated through time and place in public and private spaces (e.g. birth; coming of age; marriage; death)?

It seems to be taken for granted by those participating in this part of the seminar that the challenge facing religious people today is that of maintaining practices or traditions exemplified and transmitted in the home and family, against the malign influence of a changing society, maintaining momentum gained over generations. There were fewer thinking of how many people, newly awakened to the religious life (or who switch religious affiliation) are challenged to establish new practices, for oneself and/or one's children, from a standing start. So I challenge that first assumption (in typically courteous fashion, of course).

In the photo above: Dr Chris King (who began the processes that have led to the Mapping Faith and Place project at the University of Leicester, but is now attached to the University of Nottingham); Dr Deirdre O'Sullivan; Jen Dickson; Dr Dr Viv Golden; Dr Ruth Young.

FEAST OF HONOUR

I spend the afternoon with the local Bahá'í friends, celebrating the Feast of Sharaf (Honour).

Due to my irregular work schedule, commitments to the children and so on, I'm unable to attend as many Bahá'í community activities as I should. This is the first time I've been able to come to two consecutive Feasts since goodness knows when!

I think it appropriate to provide a short extract from the Bahá'í writings here, relevant to the name and theme of this Feast and of the month in the Bahá'í calendar that it begins:

“The Almighty hath not created in man the claws and teeth of ferocious animals, nay rather hath the human form been fashioned and set with the most comely attributes and adorned with the most perfect virtues. The honour of this creation and the worthiness of this garment therefore require man to have love and affinity for his own kind, nay rather, to act towards all living creatures with justice and equity.” ('Abdu'l-Bahá)

Following the devotional section which comes at the start of every 19 Day Feast, there’s the opportunity to share news, discuss the present state of the community and make suggestions regarding future opportunities.

There's an interesting report from some of the friends who attended a recent conference in Watford sponsored by the Persian Society for Art and Letters, on the subject of Modernity. Many of the talks, panels and workshops held there were recorded, and we hope that those of us who didn’t go will soon be able to watch or listen to these.

I say a bit about the three  community celebrations of Chanukah I've been able to attend this month and on the activities I was able to join in around Christmas, through supporting Harry singing with the choir at St Thomas the Apostle Parish Church.

We also discuss upcoming opportunities to get involved in an event for International Women's Day to be held at the University of Leicester on Thursday 8 March and to take part in an event (as yet ill-defined) being organised in Leicester by the Occupy movement on the weekend of Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 March. In connection with the latter, while we’d have to be assured of the political neutrality of any such event before committing a more formal Bahá'í involvement, there’s certainly a lot that Bahá'ís can say and do that would be relevant. One of the principles of Bahá'í life is that we must work toward eliminating  extremes of wealth and poverty. Our belief in economic and social justice depend on that central factor in the Bahá'í programme. The Bahá'í Faith is no "pie-in-the-sky" religion that preaches we should accept our lot on earth for the sake of gaining reward in heaven. While it recognises that there's more to life than merely material well-being, it pulls no punches in stating that inequality and injustice are simply wrong, from whatever perspective we might take. This can be seen in the following statement, from a talk given in Paris by 'Abdu'l-Bahá a century ago:

A financier with colossal wealth should not exist whilst near him is a poor man in dire necessity. When we see poverty allowed to reach a condition of starvation it is a sure sign that somewhere we shall find tyranny. Men must bestir themselves in this matter, and no longer delay in altering conditions which bring the misery of grinding poverty to a very large number of the people. The rich must give of their abundance, they must soften their hearts and cultivate a compassionate intelligence, taking thought for those sad ones who are suffering from lack of the very necessities of life. 

There must be special laws made, dealing with these extremes of riches and of want. The members of the Government should consider the laws of God when they are framing plans for the ruling of the people. The general rights of mankind mankind must be guarded and preserved. 

The government of the countries should conform to the Divine Law which gives  equal justice to all. This is the only way in which the deplorable superfluity of great wealth and miserable, demoralizing, degrading poverty can be abolished. Not until this is done will the Law of God be obeyed.

And this, from The Promise of World Peace, a statement by the Universal House of Justice "to the peoples of the world" made in 1984, coinciding with the United Nations International Year of Peace:

However vital a force religion has been in the history of mankind, and however dramatic the current resurgence of militant religious fanaticism, religion and religious institutions have, for many decades, been viewed by increasing numbers of people as irrelevant to the major concerns of the modern world. In its place they have turned either to the hedonistic pursuit of material satisfactions or to the following of man-made ideologies designed to rescue society from the evident evils under which it groans. All too many of these ideologies, alas, instead of embracing the concept of the oneness of mankind and promoting the increase of concord among different peoples, have tended to deify the state, to subordinate the rest of mankind to one nation, race or class, to attempt to suppress all discussion and interchange of ideas, or to callously abandon starving millions to the operations of a market system that all too clearly is aggravating the plight of the majority of mankind, while enabling small sections to live in a condition of affluence scarcely dreamed of by our forebears.

Now, of course Bahá'ís don't have the monopoly on caring about and acting on issues of social justice. Anyone with a working knowledge of the faith communities that flourish in Leicester will be able to come up with practices, principles and quotations aplenty from each of them in support of equity and fairness. Hopefully, that will make it easier to get a wide range of support and help make the contribution of the faith communities distinctive and unified. Both these upcoming opportunities are linked for Bahá'ís via another core principle of their beliefs: the equality of men and women. It’s become clear that women are bearing the brunt of austerity measures arising from the financial crisis. Working for the improved status of women and girls throughout the world can’t be divorced from the wider call for fairness in the management of the economy.

And if, for some legitimate reason, it’s not possible for the Bahá'í community to be formally involved in one or both of these events, there's nothing to stop individual Bahá'ís from taking part and bringing a Bahá'í sensibility to the table. Notes of our discussion are taken and will be passed on to the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Leicester for further consideration and a decision about the degree of involvement.

In the Bahá'í calendar, the day begins at sunset; the month of Sharaf (Honour), the start of which is celebrated with this Feast, begins at sunset on 30 December. When I was a young Bahá'í in Glasgow in the late 1970s and early 80s, we used to incorporate appropriate aspects of a traditional Scots celebration of Hogmanay into this Feast. I’ll leave it to you, faithful reader, to imagine which aspects they might have been. One of the things that makes the 19 Day Feast such a vibrant element of Bahá'í community life is its adaptability. The three-fold framework (devotional period, consultative period, social period) should always occur (in that order) and there’s guidance aplenty for how each of those sections should go and how they should relate to each other. But there’s also room for the Feast to breathe and expand, according to its national or cultural setting and the make-up of the community celebrating it. The Bahá'í community has always been awash with travellers’ tales of how the 19 Day Feast is celebrated variously in a rural Indian setting, among indigenous tribes people in North Africa or in an Inuit village above the Arctic Circle. But right from the start of my involvement in the Bahá'í community, I was with people who asked why that same variety shouldn’t be appreciated and encouraged here at home. It was things like holding the 19 Day Feast on Hogmanay, reading the poetry and singing the songs of Robert Burns at it and sharing black bun and ginger wine (that’s non-alcoholic of course) with friends of diverse origins and backgrounds that helped affirm my identity as a Bahá'í – indeed, as a Scottish Bahá'í. If truth be told, it was only by seeing those aspects of Scottishness through a Bahá'í lens that I learned how to love my own country and culture.

If you'd like to know more about the Bahá'í calendar and its pattern of Feasts and Holy Days, check out the excellent article on Wikipedia.

PROTESTERS NEED TO GET POINT ACROSS

This Op-Ed piece is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Protesters need to get point across

It is time for the Occupy movement in Leicester to do more to get their message across or just pack up and go home. Most people don't really know what they are doing and are unlikely to bother asking.

Rather people will view them as a blot on the city's landscape.

We believe, however, that they have chosen a noble cause to pursue and, as long as they operate within the boundaries of the law, we accept that they are fighting the good fight.

The concern we have is that the activists who make up Occupy Leicester, Wall Street, Berlin, Zurich, or wherever are not getting a clear message across.

This appears to be the perception of many people.

So far, the occupation has not been successful in influencing banks to consider handing over their profits and share them out. It has also not caused much concern for politicians.

We are aware that the Occupy movement is an ongoing peaceful protest and a demonstration against economic inequality, a lack of affordability of housing, social injustice, corporate greed and the influence of companies but we fear it is going nowhere.

Our story today says that Occupy Leicester has now moved above the Litten Tree pub, in High Street.

The group will now be less visible than they were before, however the group say they'll be warmer and be able to conduct their campaign better from the office space.

We hope that they can start to get their message across, as the current apathy towards what the Occupy Movement is doing is getting it nowhere.

NO CHRISTMAS BREAK FOR "OCCUPATION" CAMPAIGN IN LEICESTER

This article is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

No Christmas break for "Occupation" campaign in Leicester

It started with just one tent – but five weeks on, more than 40 people are taking it in turns to camp in Leicester's High Street in protest against corporate greed.

Anti-capitalist protesters say the Occupy Leicester camp will get bigger as we approach Christmas and New Year.

The camp appeared in the city after similar protests in New York and London, which began in September and October respectively.

The Leicester camp is growing and its supporters don't plan to break off for Christmas.

Dane Smith, 23, from Leicester, has been part of the group since it started.

Dane, an unemployed film studies graduate, believes the movement so far has been "a terrific success".

He said: "This weekend will be five weeks since we came here which is a massive achievement.

"What we're looking at now is the future and how we can carry on."

Dane was reluctant to discuss future plans further, but said "new tactics" would allow more of its members to stay at the camp for a prolonged period of time.

About 40 people are now sleeping at the camp on a regular basis, with about a quarter of that number staying there most nights.

Dane said they also had big plans for a protest today, but would not give any more details.

He said: "We've got new tactics which are secret at the moment but should help us keep going."

Dane plans to spend just four or five hours with his family on Christmas Day before returning to the camp.

He said: "They're pretty used to my protesting and activism, so there's no real surprise."

The group has regular contact with similar movements in London and Nottingham.

One Nottingham member has transferred to spend most of their time in Leicester, while one from the London camp spends most weekends here.

Warehouse worker Mark Smith, from Leicester, joined the protest after its first week.

He sleeps at the High Street base and only leaves the camp to work his shifts.

Mark, 41, from Leicester, is unfazed by sleeping in the cold weather because, as a keen angler, he has already been doing it for 32 years.

He believes the camp's message is gaining momentum.

He said: "There are more people supporting us because they understand why we're here.

"We want to end Government corruption and force the banks to stop throwing our money away."

Away from the camp, Mark says he has received support from his 14-year-old son as well as a work colleague.

He said: "I've only mentioned it to one person at work and they were supportive of us.

"My son's been a couple of times but he's not going to sleep down here."

The group said most passers-by were friendly and happy to debate but they still encounter trouble with drunks on Friday and Saturday nights.

Mark said: "The police and council have been great with us."I'm just hoping it gets us as far as it can, because the longer we stay here the better chance we have of making a difference."

MEET THE ANTI-CAPITALISTS WHO HAVE PITCHED UP IN HIGH STREET, LEICESTER

This article is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Meet the anti-capitalists who have pitched up in High Street, Leicester

A thoroughly modern protest: The anti-capitalists have pitched up in the high street - literally. Lee Marlow went along to try to make sense of it all

It's the fag end of November. The expensively slabbed streets of Leicester are paved with rain and litter and there's little here to suggest here, on a wet weekday dinner time, with the city shrouded in grey, that the season of goodwill is nearly upon us.The temperature gauge is beginning to drop. Cold winds are coming in from the east, threatening more rain and possibly snow. This is no time to set up a little tented village in the middle of the city centre.

And yet, as you may know, this is precisely what is happening. A little commune of tent-dwelling protestors is sprouting up along High Street.

This is Occupy Leicester. You might have seen them. If you haven't seen them here, chances are you've seen others in your newspaper or on your TV screens in London or New York.

Well, this is our version of that, says well-spoken protester Anthony Farrow, 22, a student at De Montfort University and part-time worker at Boots.

New York. London. Nottingham. Leicester. Leeds. Edinburgh. Newcastle. Camps like this are now established in 2,500 cities around the world.

It's global, he says. Change is coming. It has to, to save us from ourselves. This, says Anthony and his pals Kieran and David, is where it begins: a row of damp tents outside HMV.

So what are they there for? It's hardly the Arctic tundra, this bit of grey pavement along the bottom end of High Street, but it's surely an inhospitable new home for anyone used to even the most modest of home comforts.

"We're here because want to take a stand against corporate greed," says Kieran Murray, 22, who set up the camp last week after a quick recce from the Nottingham camp. He's based there, really, he says.

Kieran is a call centre manager. How does he fit it all in, the protesting and the call centre managing?

"It's not so bad," he says. "With internet wi-fi and smart phones."
Still, it's nice to sit down in a warm office now and then, he admits. Work is easy next to this wintry protesting lark.

Kieran isn't just here because he wants to take a stand against corporate greed.

He also wants to take a stand against corrupt governments and the corrosive and all-powerful monetary system which is destroying the fabric of our society and threatening the future of millions of normal, everyday folk.

Meanwhile, the richest two or three per cent grow ever richer. "How can that ever be right?" he says.

David Jordan, 24, nods along. David works full time at a well-known American firm in the Highcross, which he'd prefer me not to mention. He comes along when he can.

But could a little camp outside HMV in Leicester's High Street really bring the wheels of the capitalism machine grinding to a halt? Will anyone actually notice?

"Well, that's what it's about," says Anthony. "All we want is to make people sit up and take notice. We don't really want to foist our opinions on people. We just want people to look at what we're doing, come and have a chat. Turn off your TV sets. Switch off X Factor. Look at what is happening around you."

It's going well so far, says Anthony.

Most people, he says, are supportive. They come along and stick their thumbs up, sign their petitions and nod when Anthony or Kieran or David get onto the topic of banks.

It's only a minority, says Anthony, that are troublesome; the drunks, the Saturday night lager boys full of beer and belligerence.

"We take it in turns to sleep," says Anthony. "We have a rota, but we're quite strict about that on weekend nights."

I'm in no position to question Anthony's version of events but, for the time I was there at least, it wouldn't be quite right to say that 90 per cent of people were supportive.

Instead, 90 per cent of people merely walk on by, most utterly unmoved by it, some shaking their heads in a "what is the world coming to" kind of way.

About five per cent stop and chat, or put their thumbs up and sign petitions and say how proud they are of them. Keep up the good work, and so on.

The other five per cent swing in for a bit of a row.

Megan Sullivan, a 14-year-old student, falls into the latter camp.
Megan is a proud capitalist and nihilist, she says, matter-of-factly, as if this is what most 14-year-old girls are into, capitalism and nihilism, rather than One Direction and Rihanna.

"Don't you think this would all be better if you had rules?" says Megan.

But we do have rules, says Anthony.

"We're not anarchists. We're not proposing revolution, the overthrow of the state," he says. "We just want things to be better."

"I don't think this is the way forward," continues Megan. "I don't think things are as bad as some people say. The situation has been exaggerated."

Megan thinks there will always be inequality, rich and poor, a pecking order. It's life. We need to get over it. They agree to disagree and Megan walks away, unconvinced. That's ok, says David.

"At least she came over, at least she has views," he says. "I sometimes think it's worse that a lot of people don't."

Some people have asked them to do more, as if the site of some pitched tents in Leicester city centre should be a one-stop shop for the city's aggrieved.

They've had people asking them to take a stand against the police. But the police have been great with them, says Anthony.

The city's mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, came down the other day. He was great, too.

There are nine tents here today. Two are used for food and cooking equipment – they have their own gas stoves – and the rest are used for sleeping.

The tents are sited on pallets and insulated with cardboard.
More are coming, says Kieran. They've been told they can go from one end of High Street to the other. Imagine that, says Anthony. A long line of them. That would be brilliant.

The day starts here in High Street at 6am, as the first tranche of street cleaners arrive. It's like an inner city alarm call, says Anthony. He's lucky. He can sleep through more or less anything. Some of the others are not so fortunate.

Anthony has a girlfriend. She's Italian and lovely, he says. She doesn't really want to get involved, but she's happy for him to do it. She comes over, now and again, bringing food and warm words.

His parents are supportive, too. They think it's good that he's making a stand.

In fact, all of the protestors' parents and families are supportive, he says. It would be hard to do it if they weren't.

"One of them, Isaac, is planning to have his Christmas dinner here. He's getting his mum to drop it off for him."

Will Anthony be here at Christmas?

"I'll be here on Christmas Eve, then I'm going home for Christmas. I'm quite family- orientated so it wouldn't really be fair on my parents if I was here."

It transpires that although he's here today, Anthony wasn't here last night. He won't be here tonight, either.

"I'm at home tonight," he says. "I've been here a fair bit, the past few days."

He has a presentation tomorrow, he says. So he'll sleep at home.

I'm bemused as to how this works. I thought they were out all night, every night, all of them, whatever the weather, hardcore, tent-living protesting.

But they have a rota, a shift pattern, if you like; three or so nights on, one night back at home. It's the best way, they agree.

Except David. He has his job at the Highcross. He sleeps at home.
"I like to spend as much time as I can here, though," he adds.

Anthony lives about 10 minutes away, "so I nip home for a shower or to change my underwear," he says.

Some of the other lads live in London Road. They also nip home for provisions or a shower. This protesting lark, it seems, is not always what you think.

Anthony looks perturbed. He doesn't want me to think it's a cushy number, bringing down the capitalist system. It isn't. Take Adam Smith.

"Adam was one of the first people here," says Anthony. "He was here night after night. He collapsed the other day, he was so tired and cold."

Adam spent his first night at home after that.

Anthony, it transpires, has a lot of toothpaste. Lots of free samples, a perk of the job. They clean their teeth with the free toothpaste over a nearby drain.

They use the toilets at the Showcase, McDonald's or the Highcross for their ablutions. A man from a pub in Churchgate comes over most mornings with a pan of boiling water.

"We have to use these facilities," says Anthony. "I know some people might criticise us for it, but we have to use what we have, to use it from the inside. I think that's justifiable."

"I don't think people can question our commitment," says David. "I'm committed to this."

But David works in the Highcross, the very altar of conspicuous consumption, for a company he forbids me to name, that pays his wages and is a well-known cog in this capitalist machine.
That's a tricky circle to square, isn't it?

David says it isn't. "This is a cause I believe in, but inevitably you have to prioritise," he says. "I can't just stop living my life and do this. It's not practical. We do what we can do. You can't chose the system you're protesting in. You just have to use those circumstances to your advantage.

"Besides, where do you draw the line? Should I not be wearing clothes?"

Anthony nods along and takes up his thread. They're using the system to bring about change, he says. Nothing wrong with that.

Except, he won't use McDonald's, he says defiantly. That would be a step too far.

And, then, in the very next breath, he admits he went to McDonald's this morning.

"Yeah, I had to really," he says. "We had an interview. I had to use their toilets and we had a bit of food while we were there."

Ah. I see. What did you have?

"Just a hash brown," he says, a face etched with shame.

How was it?

"It was greasy," he says. "I didn't like it."

I COULD IMAGINE JESUS BEING BORN IN THE CAMP

When I say to Clare this morning that the Guardian has the strangest and most unexpected headline, she replies, "What, the strangest and most unexpected headline - ever?" I feel I the only reply to that is, "Yes!"

Read the article, "Giles Fraser resignation: 'I couldn't face Dale Farm on the steps of St Paul's'".