Leading article: The camp may have been cleared, but the protest lives on

It is understandable that the protesters at Zuccotti Park were angry and distressed when their Occupy Wall Street camp was broken up in the small hours of the morning. From a distance, it is hard to gauge how far the health and safety grounds cited by the New York City Mayor in defence of the operation were justified, but camps – however orderly – can outstay their welcome, even when protected by the First Amendment. Local residents have rights, too.

To suggest, as some have, however, that the forcible dismantling of the camp somehow negates the protest is wrong. Occupy Wall Street deserves to go down as one of the most successful campaigns of recent times. It spawned replicas around the world; it drew sympathy far beyond predictable counter-culture circles, and it gave voice to a hitherto largely silent, but keenly felt, strand of the public mood. Not bad for two months' cold camping in the park.