But Dr Giles Fraser, canon chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, said it was "outrageous" to compare "something like fiddling expenses with the way people love each other".

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During the wrangle the Reverend Giles Fraser resigned as canon chancellor of St Paul's in support of the protesters.

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The Chancellor of St Paul's, the Reverend Canon Dr Giles Fraser, said he supported the right to peaceful protest but defended the move to turn visitors away.

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The Rev Dr Giles Fraser - former Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral and the current parish priest at St Mary's in Newington, south London, said Bishop Welby was "the right man for the job".

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The Ipsos Mori poll, for the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, was rubbished by the Church, with Reverend Giles Fraser, former Canon Chancellor of St Paul's, saying it was not fair to trump people's "self-identification" as Christians.

BBC: UK

So the great tradition is not dead, even if Britain's politicians still have much to learn to reach the standards of Australia, where a future prime minister, Paul Keating, told an incumbent one, Malcolm Fraser, that he looked like an Easter Island statue with an arse full of razor blades.

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After Dr Fraser's resignation, the Dean of St Paul's, the Right Reverend Graeme Knowles, said he was "sorry to see him go".

BBC: St Paul's protest: Canon Chancellor Giles Fraser quits