London Street Commune

In 1967 roughly 20 Hippies had begun squatting around the area of Piccadilly Circus in London. At some point Phil Cohen, operating under the alias "Dr. John", became involved with these squatters and began to organise them into a more politicised force. Under John's influence, the squatters occupied several squats, including one inside a Church opposite the Oasis public baths on Endell Street. During an interview with Birmingham Daily Post in the time period, Dr John described the background and goals of the group as follows: Less visible members were far less ideological and simply sought the creation of a homeless shelter around Piccadilly. ==Hippydilly==

Occupation Around 200 hippy squatters occupied 144 Piccadilly in September 1969. The building was a mansion built by Sir Drummond Smith in the late 1790s, which had been lived in by Lord Palmerston when he became prime minister in 1855. Amongst the squatters was Sid Rawle, who would later become a mainstay of the British hippy and squatter movements. Intensive media coverage made the occupation a sensation and the number of people on the street outside never dropped below 500. Up until the eviction, most police activity was dedicated to controlling the violent right-wing elements in the crowd who wanted to attack the squat. In one incident, five motorbikes were set on fire. Despite its short lifespan, the squat attracted many visitors. The Commune had planned to occupy the building peacefully and argue their need for housing in court, but the attacks from police and skinheads meant that things began to go out of control. The Commune invited members of the Hells Angels biker gang to act as security and they began to take over the building. Days after the Piccadilly eviction, Sid Rawle was invited to a talk with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who subsequently offered him the use of Dorinish, an island off the coast of County Mayo in the Republic of Ireland which Lennon had purchased in 1967. Rawle and a few dozen hippies, many of whom had been involved in Hippydilly, would camp on Dorinish for a few years before the project was abandoned. The building stood empty for three years and then was demolished despite its listed status. It is now the site of the InterContinental London Park Lane hotel. Political reaction Conservative politicians condemned the London Street Commune; Tory MP John Biggs-Davison told the Reading Evening Post that London was being overrun by "hippies, anarchists and layabouts" while former minister Enoch Powell's take away from the events were that hippies were out to "repudiate authority and destroy it". Leader of the Conservative Party Edward Heath took a more benign view, with the Birmingham Daily Post reporting that Heath thought "hippies were a limited phenomenon. In every generation, there was something of that kind but it should not be forgotten that there were millions of young people in Britain who were not following the hippy life." ==Other actions==

After Hippydilly, the London Street Commune moved to a previously squatted school at Endell Street in Covent Garden. This was evicted after a few days in another large police operation. There were 63 arrests and one month later 32 people were still being held at Ashford Remand Centre. Of these, eight were singled out as ringleaders and charged under the Forcible Entry Act 1429. All eight were found guilty after a trial at Lewes Crown Court, but the punishments varied. Two people were jailed for nine months, two were sent to detention centres, three were given suspended sentences and one was fined £20. An office building in Russell Square in Bloomsbury was then occupied but its occupants quickly evicted. ==See also==