DEPENDING on where you stand, they are the troublesome oiks who outstayed the Church of England’s welcome, or the harbingers of a brighter society.

But the three diverse representatives of the Occupy movement who spoke as part of Swindon Festival of Literature are unequivocal in their outlook.

Comprising a mum-of-four who worked in the care industry, a performer and a management consultant, the “brothers and sisters”, as they call themselves, found a common bond under the steps of St Paul’s.

Karry-anne Mendoza (the ‘a’ is lower-case because it “looks prettier”) traced her politicisation back to the Iraq war and the Blair, Brown and Cameron governments.

She views the camp as “the closest thing I have ever had to a calling” and remembers one get-together under canvas when someone put their hands on her shoulders and granted her wish to be a resident writer.

The freelance management consultant found the camp a “liberation” offering a world undefined by race, class or prior profession.

Daniel Ashman, a litigant in person in the court case for the eviction proceedings, also gave an enthusiastic and animated account of Occupy’s attraction. A performer who has taken shows to the Edinburgh Fringe, he dropped everything to join the international movement. “It was a forum for education,” he said.

“We were called protestors, but if I’m a protestor I’m also a walker and a number of other things. I’m actually a concerned human being.”

The trio, speaking at the Arts Centre last night, was completed by Tammy Samede, the named defendant for the Occupy London Stock Exchange eviction proceedings. Her path to the capital was borne from her experiences of trying to care for an 88-year-old lady in the face of Government cuts.

“The Occupy movement is amazing,” she said. “It’s an idea, it’s an inspiration. A month or so ago the three main party leaders used our language when they spoke of the 99 per cent and the one per cent, and they were talking about bankers’ bonuses. I’m not saying that kind of dialogue has never happened before, but it’s happening now.”

Without leaders, the Occupy movement’s ethos is that anyone can get involved if they are willing to join the conversation.

But, despite beliefs in smaller class sizes, a healthier NHS and environmental protection, what they are asking for is harder to peg down to the concrete.

“Economic, social and environmental justice is very far away and it’s very idealistic,” said Kerry-anne. “But it’s an incredible place to start.”

But the conversation is the important part of the process, they reminded us, and on this night it flowed freely.