2010 UK student protests
Encyclopedia
The 2010 UK student protests were a series of demonstrations
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...

 that began in November 2010 in several areas of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, with the focal point of protests centred in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. The initial event was the largest student protest in the UK since the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 government first proposed the Teaching and Higher Education Act
Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998
The Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 was enacted by the United Kingdom Parliament on 16 July 1998, in order to improve the standards of teaching in the UK through the establishment of statutory General Teaching Councils for England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the modification the remit...

 in 1998. Largely student-led, the protests were held in opposition to planned spending cuts to further education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...

 and an increase of the cap on tuition fees by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government
United Kingdom coalition government (2010–present)
The ConservativeLiberal Democrat coalition is the present Government of the United Kingdom, formed after the 2010 general election. The Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats entered into discussions which culminated in the 2010 coalition agreement, setting out a programme for government...

. The proposed budget reduction followed a review into higher education funding
Browne Review
The Browne Review or Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance was a review to consider the future direction of higher education funding in England. It was launched on the 9 November 2009 and published its findings on 12 October 2010. It was chaired by Lord Browne of...

 in England conducted by Lord Browne
John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley
Edmund John Philip Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley, FRS FREng is President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and was group Chief Executive of BP until his resignation on 1 May 2007...

. Student groups said that the intended cuts to education were excessive and broke campaign promises made by politicians, amounting to "attempts to force society to pay for a crisis it didn't cause."

The first major demonstration occurred on 10 November and was jointly organised by the National Union of Students (NUS) and the University and College Union
University and College Union
The University and College Union is a British trade union formed by the merger in 2006 of the Association of University Teachers and the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education ....

 (UCU). Arriving from all over England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 and Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

, approximately 30,000 to 52,000 protesters attended the demonstration on the streets of central London
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...

. Further protests were held on 24 and 30 November, and 9 December, with students holding rallies and occupying government and university buildings. Organisers said that most of the protests were peaceful, but sporadic acts of violence and vandalism were reported by authorities; protesters and police officers alike were injured, and in some cases hospitalised. In one incident, a car carrying Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...

 and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, was attacked on Regent Street
Regent Street
Regent Street is one of the major shopping streets in London's West End, well known to tourists and Londoners alike, and famous for its Christmas illuminations...

. In another incident a student named Alfie Meadows suffered bleeding to the brain when he was allegedly struck by a police truncheon during the protest and later had to undergo surgery.

Background

Prior to the general election in May 2010, the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 government commissioned a study into higher education funding in England entitled the Browne Review
Browne Review
The Browne Review or Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance was a review to consider the future direction of higher education funding in England. It was launched on the 9 November 2009 and published its findings on 12 October 2010. It was chaired by Lord Browne of...

. At the time Nick Clegg
Nick Clegg
Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...

, the leader of the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

, pledged
Vote for Students pledge
The National Union of Students "Vote for Students" pledge is a pledge to vote against tuition fee increases that was signed by over 1000 candidates standing in the UK general election in 2010, notably including all 57 subsequently elected Liberal Democrat MPs.-The pledge:The pledge states:The NUS...

 that he would vote against any proposed increase in tuition fees if elected to Parliament. Following the election and resulting hung parliament
Hung parliament
In a two-party parliamentary system of government, a hung parliament occurs when neither major political party has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament . It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament or a legislature under no overall control...

, he made an agreement with the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 to form a coalition government
United Kingdom coalition government (2010–present)
The ConservativeLiberal Democrat coalition is the present Government of the United Kingdom, formed after the 2010 general election. The Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats entered into discussions which culminated in the 2010 coalition agreement, setting out a programme for government...

. The Browne Review was subsequently published in October 2010, and contained the suggestion that the government should remove outright the existing cap of £3,290 on tuition fees. The government rejected this proposal, instead choosing to keep a cap but increased to £9,000. David Willetts
David Willetts
David Linsay Willetts is a British Conservative Party politician and the Minister of State for Universities and Science. He is the Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Havant in Hampshire.-Education:...

, the Minister of State for Universities and Science, stated that the measures were "a very progressive package" and "at the end of this we will have a better university system than we have at the moment." Nick Clegg also changed his position on the issue once in government, supporting the rise in tuition fees, and on the day of the protests, in Parliament, defended his change of position on fees and supported the proposals for an increase.

Student union leaders, however, were critical of the cuts. David Barclay, the president of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

's student union, said: "This is the day a generation of politicians learn that though they might forget their promises, students won't." Similarly, Rahul Mansigani, the students' union president for the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

, said: "Large numbers of students voted for the Liberal Democrats, and there is no question that the pledge is a binding commitment." It was widely believed by the NUS and their supporters that the increased cap on tuition fees would prevent potential students from poorer backgrounds from attending university.

Two weeks before, on 28 October, a protest was held in the University of Oxford to coincide with a visit from the Liberal Democrat minister and Business Secretary Vince Cable. Cable cancelled his visit after taking advice from the police about the protest. Several days later, on 3 November, there was a student protest in Dublin
2010 student protest in Dublin
The 2010 student protest in Dublin was a demonstration that took place in the centre of the city on 3 November 2010 in opposition to a proposed increase in university registration fees, further cuts to the student maintenance grant and increasing graduate unemployment and emigration levels caused...

. The subsequent London protest was described by one Irish reporter as "scenes bizarrely similar" to those in the Irish capital.

10 November

The focal point of the first demonstration involved a number of protesters occupying 30 Millbank in Westminster
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...

, that houses the headquarters
Conservative Campaign Headquarters
Conservative Campaign Headquarters , formerly known as Conservative Central Office is the headquarters of the British Conservative Party, housing its central staff and committee members....

 of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

, and led to clashes with police during which 14 were injured and 50 arrested.

London march

The official route of the first demonstration, officially known as "Fund Our Future: Stop Education Cuts", and also known as "Demo 2010" or "Demo-lition 10.11.10", was pre-approved with the Metropolitan Police Service
Metropolitan Police Service
The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...

, and marchers moved from Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...

 past Downing Street
Downing Street
Downing Street in London, England has for over two hundred years housed the official residences of two of the most senior British cabinet ministers: the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now synonymous with that of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the Second Lord of the Treasury, an...

, the home of the Prime Minister, and then past the Houses of Parliament
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...

, chanting such slogans as "no ifs, no buts – no education cuts", "they say cut back – we say fight back", "I say Tories – you say scum". Commenting upon the behaviour of the protesters, one journalist, Harry Mount of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...

, said: "Perhaps because their cause was justified, the students I saw had none of the swaggering, self-righteous manner of the student protester of legend."

Political groups that sent contingents to take part included the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

, Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru
' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...

, the Green Party
Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...

, Socialist Workers Party
Socialist Workers Party (Britain)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far left party in Britain founded by Tony Cliff. The SWP's student section has groups at a number of universities...

, Socialist Party
Socialist Party (England and Wales)
The Socialist Party is a Trotskyist party active in England and Wales.It publishes the weekly newspaper The Socialist and the monthly magazine Socialism Today...

, Revolution
Revolution (political group)
Revolution, or Revo, a revolutionary socialist youth organization, was founded in the UK by Workers Power, part of the League for the Fifth International...

, Young Communist League
Young Communist League (Britain)
The Young Communist League is the name of both the youth wing of the former Communist Party of Great Britain and the current youth wing of the Communist Party of Britain ; an organisation that sees itself as the successor to the Communist Party of Great Britain.-Original Young Communist League...

, Revolutionary Communist Group and Communist Students. A few Members of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 joined the demonstration, among them Labour MP John McDonnell
John McDonnell (politician)
John Martin McDonnell is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Hayes and Harlington since 1997; he serves as Chair of the Socialist Campaign Group, the Labour Representation Committee, and the "Public Services Not Private Profit Group"...

, who told reporters: "This is the biggest workers' and students' demonstration in decades. It just shows what can be done when people get angry. We must build on this". Representatives of the National Pensioners Convention
National Pensioners Convention
The National Pensioners Convention is the principal organisation representing pensioners in the United Kingdom. It is made up of around 1,000 bodies representing 1.5 million members, organised into federal regional units....

 also took part in the march. Janet Shapiro, who carried a banner for the National Pensioner's Convention said: "We're here because we believe education should be free, funded by the taxpayer. It is something that benefits the community, the country. Young people shouldn't start life with large debts that are worse than mortgages
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...

."

At the end of the march, a rally took place outside Tate Britain
Tate Britain
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...

 where demonstrators were addressed by Sally Hunt, the University and College Union general secretary, who introduced a series of clips displayed on a giant plasma screen featuring Nick Clegg
Nick Clegg
Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...

 giving a series of promises to the electorate on tuition fees, all of which he subsequently had broken. During this, Hunt said that, making the Public University system in the UK "the most expensive in the world" isn't fair, that discouraging young people from going to college wasn't progressive, and that whatever the increase in intuitions are called they are in reality, debts.

The rally was also addressed by the NUS president Aaron Porter
Aaron Porter
Aaron Ross Porter is the former President of the National Union of Students in the United Kingdom; he was elected with a 65% majority and took office in June 2010 for one year.-Background and positions held :...

, and the Trades Union Congress
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...

 deputy general secretary, Frances O'Grady, the latter who offered the message to the government: "Don't you dare tell us we're all in this together. The deficit certainly wasn't caused by the students."

The protest was scheduled to end at 2 pm, but slightly overran. The Metropolitan Police were only expecting 20,000 demonstrators to turn out, well below the 50,000 figure most widely quoted in the press after the event, and did not expect any violence, so deployed only 225 officers to police the event.

Violence and disruption

In the afternoon, as protesters passed the Houses of Parliament and moved on towards Tate Britain
Tate Britain
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...

 for the rally, several thousand, despite attempts by NUS organisers to stop them, surrounded 30 Millbank, campaign headquarters of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

. Forcing their way past the limited police presence, approximately two hundred people broke in and occupied the building, whilst a thousand more cheered and supported them from outside. These protesters lit placards on fire, and smashed windows before occupying and vandalising the reception area. Staff working in the building were subsequently evacuated by police around 1 pm. Roughly twenty to thirty protesters proceeded to the roof of the building, chanting slogans including "Greece! France!
2010 French pension reform strikes
The 2010 pension reform strikes in France were a series of ongoing general strikes and demonstrations in France which occurred during September and October 2010....

 Now here too".

Initial press sources blamed this action on a group of anarchists
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...

. However, a later source claimed that the action at Millbank was instead caused by "students radicalised by cuts". Patrick Smith of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

 stated: "Speaking to the people inside the building... revealed a different story [to that of initial press reports].... Those dressed in black were [not anarchists but] students too, and several fresh-faced, excited students said this was their first demonstration.... This tells a different story to the one told by those wishing to discredit the protest as just a small bunch of troublemakers kicking off."
Riot police from the Territorial Support Group
Territorial Support Group
The Territorial Support Group is a Central Operations unit of London's Metropolitan Police Service consisting of 720 officers, that specialises in public order containment among other specialist policing. The TSG is a uniformed unit of the MPS that replaced the controversial Special Patrol Group...

 arrived an hour after the building was occupied to remove the protesters. According to some sources, those police who attempted to remove the protesters from the building were pelted with eggs, rotten fruit, banners, and shards of glass in retaliation. One of the roof protesters later threw a fire extinguisher
Fire extinguisher
A fire extinguisher or extinguisher, flame entinguisher is an active fire protection device used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergency situations...

 onto the police below, but received instant criticism from some of the protesting crowds, who called on them to "stop throwing shit". In order to control the situation, police decided to use the controversial technique of kettling
Kettling
Kettling is a police tactic for controlling large crowds during demonstrations or protests. It involves the formation of large cordons of police officers who then move to contain a crowd within a limited area. Protesters are left only one choice of exit, determined by the police, or are completely...

 to keep the protesters trapped within Millbank Square, which is the forecourt to 30 Millbank, whilst those protesters who were outside were pushed back. The police began letting demonstrators out of the building from 6:30 pm onwards, arresting those whom they believed were responsible for vandalism.

The demonstration led to a disruption in transport around the city, with journalist Harry Mount
Harry Mount
Harry Mount is a British writer, journalist, foreign policy expert and former barrister who works for Reader's Digest, The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail....

 stating: "I have never seen London traffic so jammed in 39 years living in the city." Alongside the occupation of Millbank, a smaller number of protesters had travelled to the headquarters of the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

 in Cowley Street, where a car window was smashed. In all, 14 people were injured and required hospitalisation, at least three of whom were police officers, whilst police arrested 35 of the demonstrators, sending them off to various police stations around the city. Later accounts that the numbers arrested had risen to 54, (33 men and 21 women), ten of whom were aged under 18 and the majority of whom were students.
On 16 November, an 18-year-old student from Brockenhurst College
Brockenhurst College
Brockenhurst College, or colloquially known as Brock, is in the tertiary sector providing education in a wide range of courses for many different ages...

, Edward Woollard, was arrested for attempted murder
Attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.-Today:In English criminal law, attempted murder is the crime of more than merely preparing to commit unlawful killing and at the same time having a specific intention to cause the death of human being under the Queen's Peace...

 in connection with throwing a fire extinguisher
Fire extinguisher
A fire extinguisher or extinguisher, flame entinguisher is an active fire protection device used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergency situations...

 from the roof of 30 Millbank during the occupation of the building. He was arrested in Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

 and transferred to London where he was questioned. He subsequently went on trial for violent disorder rather than attempted murder, something for which he pleaded guilty, which carried with it a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment under the Public Order Act
Public Order Act
Public Order Act is a stock short title used for legislation in Rhodesia, Sierra Leone, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom, relating to public order offences.-Rhodesia:...

. On 11 January 2011 Woollard was sentenced to 32 months in a young offenders institution.

Students and unions

The president of the National Union of Students, Aaron Porter, condemned the attack on 30 Millbank, claiming that it was caused by "those who are here to cause trouble" and that he was "disgusted that the actions of a minority of idiots are trying to undermine 50,000 who came to make a peaceful protest." Similarly, Sally Hunt
Sally Hunt
Sally Hunt is the General Secretary of the University and College Union . Prior to the UCU coming into existence on June 1, 2006, she was the last General Secretary of the Association of University Teachers , having held that post since 2002...

, the general secretary of the University and College Union, also condemned the occupation, declaring that "the overwhelming majority of staff and students on the march came here to send a clear and peaceful message to the politicians.... The actions of a minority, out of 50,000 people, is regrettable." David Barclay, the president of the University of Oxford's students' union, issued a statement in which he stated that "OUSU supports the rights of students to protest non-violently. It is hugely unfortunate that some people yesterday were injured and that arrests were made."

In contrast with this, positive reaction for elements of the occupation of 30 Millbank was expressed by some student leaders, trade unionists and academics. Amongst others, the president of University of London Union
University of London Union
The University of London Union is the university-wide students' union for the University of London...

 Clare Solomon
Clare Solomon
Clare Michelle Jane Solomon was the president of the University of London Union.Solomon was born to Michael and Noreen Graham in Winchester, Hampshire. Her father served in the Royal Military Police before emigrating to New Zealand with the family. She later returned to England to give birth to a...

, the Education Officer of the London School of Economics, Ashok Kumar, the Education and Campaigns Officer at University College London, Michael Chessum, the National Union of Students' black students' officer Kanjay Sesay, the NUS' LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

 students' officers Vicki Baars and Alan Bailey, the President of the RMT
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers is a trade union in the United Kingdom which unionises transport workers. It has more than 80,000 members, and its current general secretary is Bob Crow...

 trade union Alex Gordon and the playwright Lee Hall
Lee Hall (playwright)
Lee Hall is an English playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for the 2000 film Billy Elliot.-Early life:...

 all signed a statement in which they declared that:

We reject any attempt to characterise the Millbank protest as small, "extremist" or unrepresentative of our movement. We celebrate the fact that thousands of students were willing to send a message to the Tories that we will fight to win. Occupations are a long established tradition in the student movement that should be defended. It is this kind of action in France and Greece that has been an inspiration to many workers and students in Britain faced with such a huge assault on jobs, benefits, housing and the public sector. We stand with the protesters, and anyone who is victimised as a result of the protest.


Solomon also told the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 that she believed that there was "no problem with direct actions or occupation", and when questioned regarding the damage done to Millbank, responded that "these were a few windows of the Tory Party headquarters – what they're doing to our education is absolutely millions... and they want to complain about a few windows." Some socialist and student commentators have criticised Porter and the NUS for their response to both this situation and others, characterising them as careerist. Meanwhile, various university Conservative societies around London condemned the protests, and criticised students' unions "for creating false impression that the majority of students are left-wing" and opposed to the governments' proposed cuts.

Government and press

The Metropolitan Police Service
Metropolitan Police Service
The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...

 admitted that they were unprepared to deal with the occupation of 30 Millbank, something which they had not been expecting. Sir Paul Stephenson
Paul Stephenson (police officer)
Sir Paul Robert Stephenson, QPM was the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, 2009-2011, the most senior police officer within the United Kingdom....

, the Metropolitan Police's Commissioner, told the press that he was "embarrassed" by how police had lost control of the situation, and condemned what he saw as "thuggish, loutish behaviour by criminals." Stephenson also emphasised the individuals working in the Millbank complex, remarking that "the one thing I would say is that it must have been an awful time for the people trying to go about their daily business in those buildings. I feel terribly sorry that they have had to go through what must have been quite a traumatic experience… We are determined to make sure that sort of thing does not happen again on our streets. I'm clear on that, the Met is clear on that." His views were echoed by the Mayor of London
Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...

, Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...

, who stated: "This is intolerable and all those involved will be pursued and they will face the full force of the law… The Metropolitan Police commissioner has assured me that there will be a vigorous post-incident investigation. He will also be reviewing police planning and response."

Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...

 David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....

 also condemned the actions at Millbank, and said he would not abandon his position on the issue of education cuts. Speaking in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

, where he was attending the 2010 G-20 Seoul summit
2010 G-20 Seoul summit
The 2010 G20 Seoul Summit was the fifth meeting of the G-20 heads of government, to discuss the global financial system and the world economy, which took place in Seoul, South Korea on November 11–12, 2010...

, Cameron said the occasion had been "extremely serious" and praised the bravery of the police officers. He also stated that the actions of the protesters were "unacceptable" and that "I was worried for the safety of the people in the building because I know people who work there". Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a senior member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not a permanent position, existing only at the discretion of the Prime Minister, who may appoint to other offices...

 Nick Clegg
Nick Clegg
Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...

 said on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

's Daybreak
Daybreak (ITV)
Daybreak is the weekday breakfast television programme on the British commercial ITV network that broadcasts on weekday mornings from 06:00 to 08:30 and is currently presented by Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley from Monday to Thursday with Dan Lobb and Kate Garraway on Fridays...

 the morning after: "I should have been more careful perhaps in signing that pledge [to not increase tuition fees]… At the time [prior to his election] I really thought we could do it. I just didn't know, of course, before we came into government, quite what the state of the finances were."

A reporter from The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...

 said that the "anarchic behaviour" of those occupying Millbank was "counter-productive" to the students' cause, and that it was the photographs of "a few hundred vicious hotheads" that would "linger" in the public imagination rather than that of the main march. The Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....

 reported that an anonymous vice-chancellor from a London university had told them that the violence would undermine the campaign, and that it "could not have gone better for the government. George Osborne
George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne, MP is a British Conservative politician. He is the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, a role to which he was appointed in May 2010, and has been the Member of Parliament for Tatton since 2001.Osborne is part of the old Anglo-Irish aristocracy, known in...

 will be delighted."

Related protests

There were also two smaller peaceful protests in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 and Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

 as the protest sparked further action in the following days. On 11 November, a group of student protesters occupied a building at the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...

 for three hours, demanding to see the accounts that discussed how government spending cuts would affect students. At one point between 60 and 100 students held a peaceful sit-in
Sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment.-Process:In a sit-in, protesters remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met...

 at Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

's John Owens Building in Oxford Road after an NUS meeting earlier that day. Representing this group, protester Jeremy Buck said: "This is just what a few students who had the energy left after the London demo managed to achieve… Imagine what will happen when they have enough time to organise properly for the 24th. It is a matter of watch this space." That same day, protesters at the University of Cambridge held a demonstration against the cuts at the university's annual science, engineering and technology careers fair.

In a similar vein, on 23 November, anti-education cuts protesters had assembled outside of the offices of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

 newspaper, where Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg
Nick Clegg
Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...

 was giving his Hugo Young
Hugo Young
Hugo John Smelter Young was a British journalist and columnist and senior political commentator at The Guardian.-Early life and education:...

 lecture, in which they sentenced and executed an effigy of Clegg by hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...

 and shouted the slogan "Nick Clegg, shame on you, shame on you for turning blue
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

".

24 November

A second significant demonstration took place in London on 24 November, which again led to clashes with police, this time outside Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...

, after police kettled a large crowd.

An organisation known as the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) organised a mass national walk-out of education and protest for 24 November. As a part of this, demonstrations were held in London and other locations across the United Kingdom. According to a group on the social networking website Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

, 25,000 people had signed up to take the day off from studies and protest prior to the actual event, and these protesters included not only university students, but also school children who had walked out of lessons to join the demonstration. The NCAFC encouraged protesters to use social media to invite others to join them:

...chalk the details on the pavement outside your place of education... request that folk "send the text viral" – ie text it to their own friends to text on to their friends … Send texts to all your friends in different schools and colleges telling them you've walked out...


One of those protesting was Jessica Linley, a law student at the University of Nottingham
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...

 who had been crowned Miss England
Miss England
The Miss England competition is an annual beauty pageant targeted at young females aged 17–24 years living in England. Entrants must hold a British passport to enter....

 in September 2010 and who used her status to gain media coverage for the cause, telling press that she would not be able to afford to go to university if the tuition fees were increased, and that "these sweeping austerity measures are unacceptable."

Whitehall march

Believing that they had a lack of officers at the first demonstration on 10 November, the Metropolitan Police drafted in 1,000 police officers from across Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...

 to oversee the event, almost five times the number that they had employed before. The police officer responsible for monitoring domestic extremism meanwhile told the press on 23 November that he planned to monitor fringe elements amongst the demonstrators whom he felt would encourage peaceful protest to "spill over into vandalism and violence".

Several thousand protesters in central London gathered in Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...

 in the late morning, most of whom were students or school children, many who clambered over the statues surrounding Nelson's Column
Nelson's Column
Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in central London built to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The monument was constructed between 1840 and 1843 to a design by William Railton at a cost of £47,000. It is a column of the Corinthian...

, before moving on towards Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...

 shouting the slogan, "fuck David Cameron". As they reached Whitehall just before 1 pm, police prevented the protesters from reaching Parliament Square
Parliament Square
Parliament Square is a square outside the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in London. It features a large open green area in the middle, with a group of trees to its west. It contains statues of famous statesmen and is the scene of rallies and protests, as well as being a tourist...

 and the Houses of Parliament
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...

, setting up a line of riot police to kettle the protesters. One reporter from The Guardian described the crowd at this point as being "predominantly good natured, although very noisy". Nonetheless, the demonstrators tried to push through the police line, leading to clashes. An unoccupied police van which had been left in the midst of the crowd was vandalised; protesters rocked it back and forth, climbed on its roof, smashed its windows, wrote graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....

 on it and threw a smoke bomb
Smoke bomb
A smoke bomb is a firework designed to produce smoke upon ignition. Smoke bombs are useful to military units, airsoft games, paintball games, self defense and pranks...

 inside. A group of school girls, however – most wearing school uniform – encircled the van, urging people not to vandalise it, and one of them, Zoe Williams, later told reporters that "I was just trying to get across to [the vandals] that the cause that we're here for today isn't about 'I hate the police, I want to burn the police and I want to destroy everything they represent.'"

At around 6 pm, mounted police
Mounted police
Mounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. They continue to serve in remote areas and in metropolitan areas where their day-to-day function may be picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and...

 charged at the north end of the crowd in order to push them back. Police denied this was a charge and was simply crowd control using horses. Roughly 1,000 protesters were able to break free of the police kettle, running throughout many areas of central London whilst being pursued by police, leading one reporter who was there, The Guardians Paul Lewis, to state that "police were caught in a game of cat and mouse, along Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...

, Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...

 and Picadilly Circus. The mice (or at least those we were with) were eventually trapped along a side street." Meanwhile some of these escaping protesters committed acts of vandalism along many of the side streets, including knocking over rubbish bins and throwing traffic cones into the road.

Meanwhile, approximately 200 protesters, who were unable to escape, remained kettled in Whitehall. Police informed the press that those in the crowd were provided with toilet facilities and water. Nonetheless, individuals in the crowd, using social media, disputed this claim, with Clare Solomon, the president of the ULU, stating through Facebook that "we're still illegally kettled in the freezing cold on Whitehall. No food, water or toilets despite what the police are telling the media. Thousands of young people needing to go home." Shouting out that it was to keep them warm in the cold night, protesters set fire to a ticket machine that was within the kettled area, prompting the police to send approximately 20 officers in riot gear into the midst of the crowd to secure the machine and put out the flames, whilst a fire engine
Fire apparatus
A fire apparatus, fire engine, fire truck, or fire appliance is a vehicle designed to assist in fighting fires by transporting firefighters to the scene and providing them with access to the fire, along with water or other equipment...

 also turned up at the scene. From 9 to 10 pm, the rest of the Whitehall protesters were finally allowed out of the kettled crowd by the police, approximately nine to ten hours after they had first been contained. some were subject to police searches as they were let out.

During the clashes between riot police and demonstrators at Whitehall, police arrested 41 protesters. A number of individuals were also injured, including seven police officers and 11 others. Some protesters also vandalised several buses, with windows being broken on two routes and various bus stops in central London being damaged. A spokesperson for Transport for London
Transport for London
Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...

, the organisation responsible for the bus service, stated: "We know that bus shelters and ticket machines along Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...

 have been severely damaged and we're checking to see what other damage has been caused. As the protest moved on during the day we had to put in place rolling diversions to keep buses away from it."

In July 201, three school children will challenge the kettling of children at the 24 November 2010 protest. They will seek a Judicial Review in the High Court, arguing in particular that children had a right to protest and that their safety was jeopardized, breaking the laws of the European Convention on Human Rights
European Convention on Human Rights
The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953...

, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
Convention on the Rights of the Child
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a human rights treaty setting out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children...

 and the Children Act 2004
Children Act 2004
The Children Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The Act amended the Children Act 1989, largely in consequence of the Victoria Climbié inquiry....

,

Occupations and Local Protests

In London, student protesters occupied buildings belonging to a number of different universities in order to protest. At 4 pm on 23 November, protesting students occupied the picture gallery corridor, a part of the administrative wing of Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London is a constituent college of the University of London. The college has three faculties, 18 academic departments, and about 8,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from over 130 different countries...

 London'in protest against the cuts. They were later joined by supportive members of staff at the university who took part in what was labelled a "teach-in".
At 11.15am on the 24th November, the Language Centre at London South Bank University
London South Bank University
London South Bank University is a university in south London. With over 25,000 students and 1,700 staff, it is based in the London Borough of Southwark, near the South Bank of the River Thames, from which it takes its name...

 was occupied for 51 hours by over 100 students as part of the 'Defend LSBU! Defend Our Education!' campaign to fight cuts and job losses at the university. On the afternoon of the 24th of November, a group of students and supporters went into occupation of Appleton Tower
Appleton Tower
Appleton Tower is a tower block in Edinburgh, Scotland, owned by the University of Edinburgh.- History :When the University developed the George Square site in the 1960s a huge swathe of Georgian Edinburgh was demolished, leading to accusations of cultural vandalism and megalomania...

 at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

, stating "We stand firm alongside all other students, university staff and others nationwide affected by education cuts and the risk this poses to the future of higher education." Following this, at 12:17pm on 24 November, a group of students occupied the Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...

 Room at the centre of University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

, stating that they were protesting against "savage cuts to higher education and government attempts to force society to pay for a crisis it didn't cause." One reporter, from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

, visited the occupation, and remarked that of the protesters, "they seem as distant from the old left
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...

 as they do from the new right
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...

" and that "you get a reminder that these are students born in the 1990s. They're quoting Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...

 rather than Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...

." Student protesters also occupied the University of East London
University of East London
The University of East London is a university located in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, based at two campuses in Stratford and Docklands areas...

, demanding that university managers "put pressure on the government on the issue of H[higher] E[ducation] cuts and tuition fee rises".

Aside from those in the capital, students protested against fee rises and education cuts across the United Kingdom, with students occupying their university buildings in protest at at least 12 universities. At University Place in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, 3,000 students assembled to demonstrate, but several hundred of them broke away to march towards the town hall
Manchester Town Hall
Manchester Town Hall is a Victorian-era, Neo-gothic municipal building in Manchester, England. The building functions as the ceremonial headquarters of Manchester City Council and houses a number of local government departments....

. A group of about 100 occupied a lecture theatre in the Roscoe Building. At the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 university sixth form students initially occupied the Radcliffe Camera
Radcliffe Camera
The Radcliffe Camera is a building in Oxford, England, designed by James Gibbs in the English Palladian style and built in 1737–1749 to house the Radcliffe Science Library.-History:...

. At the University of Cambridge, 200 students scaled the fence of Senate House
Senate House (University of Cambridge)
The Senate House of the University of Cambridge is now used mainly for degree ceremonies. It was formerly also used for meetings of the Council of the Senate...

 and marched onto the grounds of King's College
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....

. At the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...

, 2,000 protesters clashed with police when they tried to move into the city centre. Four were arrested. In Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

, 3,000 demonstrators marched throughout the city, with nearly 50 occupying a university building. Hundreds of students from Kingston University
Kingston University
Kingston University is a public research university located in Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, United Kingdom. It was originally founded in 1899 as Kingston Technical Institute, a polytechnic, and became a university in 1992....

 and various local schools staged an impromptu march through the town and a sit down protest at College Roundabout, leading to one arrest. In the morning of 24 November, demonstrators at the University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...

 occupied the Aston Webb building, the site of the Prime Ministerial debates earlier in the year; they issued a statement in which they declared that "we believe the government's cuts to be economically unnecessary, unfair and ideologically motivated" and that "if [the government] continue to destroy the livelihoods of the majority to benefit the rich and powerful minority, they will face increasingly widespread and radical action." In Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, protesters amassed at the University of Leeds
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...

. Hundreds of them had walked out of the local Allerton Grange High School to join the demonstration, and later occupied the Michael Sadler lecture theater. A room at Leeds Metropolitan University
Leeds Metropolitan University
Leeds Metropolitan University is a British University with three campuses. Two are situated in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England while the third is situated in Bhopal, India...

 was also occupied, as was a room at the University of Plymouth
University of Plymouth
Plymouth University is the largest university in the South West of England, with over 30,000 students and is 9th largest in the United Kingdom by total number of students . It has almost 3,000 staff...

. In Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

, around 200 protesters, after rallying outside Cardiff University
Cardiff University
Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...

, entered the building, and failing to gain entry to the vice chancellor's building, instead occupied a lecture theatre. The longest occupations were at the University of Kent
University of Kent
The University of Kent, previously the University of Kent at Canterbury, is a public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom...

 and the University of the West of England
University of the West of England
The University of the West of England is a university based in the English city of Bristol. Its main campus is at Frenchay, about five miles north of the city centre...

, both occupying for just under a month.

Response

During the Whitehall incident, the police publicly defended their use of kettling in dealing with the crowd to the press, with Chief Inspector Jane Connors claiming that they had only decided to use it as "a last resort" and that "it's a valid tactic. Police officers came under attack and we needed to make sure the violence didn't spread out across the London streets." Such a claim was however disputed by MP and leader of the Green Party
Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...

, Caroline Lucas
Caroline Lucas
Caroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...

, who brought up the topic in the neighbouring House of Commons that afternoon, stating that "there are many hundreds of students and school children who have been kettled for over four hours and are going to be out there for another several hours, according to the police, in the freezing cold… whatever one thinks of the student protest, [holding people against their will in the contained crowd was] neither proportionate, nor, indeed, effective." Following their actions, the police came upon increasing criticism for their use of kettling, particularly due to the fact that there were large numbers of children and young teenagers in the mostly-peaceful crowd, who were held for hours in near-zero temperatures. At a meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority the following day, the Metropolitan Police's Commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, supported the tactics, claiming that "we did get it right", but was heavily criticised in a "terse exchange" by Jenny Jones
Jenny Jones (Green politician)
Jenny Jones is an English politician and prominent member of the Green Party of England and Wales. She currently represents the Green Party in the London Assembly, and is standing to be Mayor of London in the 2012 elections. She was Deputy Mayor of London from May 2003 to June 2004...

, a Green Party member of the London Assembly
London Assembly
The London Assembly is an elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds majority, to amend the mayor's annual budget. The assembly was established in 2000 and is headquartered at City Hall on the south...

, who told him that "when you imprison thousands of people, which is essentially what you did yesterday, you do have a duty of care to them... You kept people for nine-and-a-half hours. You punished innocent people for going on a protest."

Stephenson once again condemned the actions of protesters at Whitehall, just as he had done with the situation at Millbank, stating that "we have not seen this sort of behaviour for some considerable time… it was thuggery, it was disgraceful, [and] we are determined to find [those responsible for vandalism]." He further warned that "the likelihood is for more disorder on our streets. We must be prepared for it." A spokesperson for the Prime Minister, David Cameron, stated that "people have a right to engage in lawful and peaceful protest, but there is no place for violence or intimidation", whilst government education minister David Willetts
David Willetts
David Linsay Willetts is a British Conservative Party politician and the Minister of State for Universities and Science. He is the Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Havant in Hampshire.-Education:...

 responded by claiming that protesting students did not understand the government's plans. Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg stated on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...

 that "I hate in politics, as in life, to make promises that you then find you can't keep. We made a promise we can't deliver – we didn't win the election outright and there are compromises in coalition." Meanwhile the leader of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

, Ed Milliband, responded to the events by stating that he would not rule out joining further demonstrations, and remarking that "I was quite tempted to go out and talk to them [the protesters]. Peaceful demonstrations are part of our society. As Labour leader I am willing to talk to people who are part of them."

Central London protests

Further protests in central London took place on Tuesday 30 November, a day that saw cold temperatures and snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...

 in the city. Protesters initially assembled at Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...

, but a line of police officers were preventing their march down Whitehall towards the Houses of Parliament, the same route that they had taken the week before. Due to the tactics which they had used, the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts accused the Metropolitan Police of "pre-emptively block[ing]" the protest route. Subsequently, the protesters, who feared that the police would simply try to kettle them in Trafalgar Square (in a similar manner to how they had kettled them at Whitehall on 24 November), began dispersing across the centre of the city, running through many streets pursued by police. Other police officers instead stood at the side, photographing and filming the students for later identification, whilst police vans blocked off certain streets. Some of the protesters were chanting "Peaceful protest! Peaceful protest!", whilst others chanted "no ifs, no buts, no education cuts", and others played reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

 music from a portable stereo system or blew vuvuzela
Vuvuzela
The vuvuzela , also known as lepatata Mambu , colloquially known in South Africa as "Moerstripper", is a plastic horn, about long, which produces a loud monotone note, typically around B3 . Some models are made in two parts to facilitate storage, and this design also allows pitch variation...

s. Many protesters ran on to Pall Mall
Pall Mall, London
Pall Mall is a street in the City of Westminster, London, and parallel to The Mall, from St. James's Street across Waterloo Place to the Haymarket; while Pall Mall East continues into Trafalgar Square. The street is a major thoroughfare in the St James's area of London, and a section of the...

 and then past St. James's Park
St. James's Park
St. James's Park is a 23 hectare park in the City of Westminster, central London - the oldest of the Royal Parks of London. The park lies at the southernmost tip of the St. James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St. James the Less.- Geographical location :St. James's...

, but were denied access to Parliament Square
Parliament Square
Parliament Square is a square outside the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in London. It features a large open green area in the middle, with a group of trees to its west. It contains statues of famous statesmen and is the scene of rallies and protests, as well as being a tourist...

, opposite the Houses of Parliament, by police. They therefore turned back around and headed in the direction of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

. One reporter from The Guardian, who was at the scene, noted that by this point, "the march is fracturing – people are going up different streets and getting lost. Texts
Text messaging
Text messaging, or texting, refers to the exchange of brief written text messages between fixed-line phone or mobile phone and fixed or portable devices over a network...

 come through from the front, giving information." The reporter also noted that police continued to pursue protesters, and that "it feels like 'kiss chase' – or, when I see a policeman punch a boy out of the way, entirely without provocation, 'punch chase'."

Eventually, many of the protesters returned to Trafalgar Square, where they were still unable to march down to Whitehall due to a heavy police line. The police soon kettled those who were in Trafalgar Square, whilst some of those there – and who had expected such a tactic – waved banners with slogans such as "Don't put the kettle on, Mr. Cameron" and "I Can't Believe It's Not Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

". The police "put lines [of officers] across all the exits" to the kettled area of the Square, but reportedly allowed small groups of protesters to leave, even though the majority, around 150 to 200, decided to stay and continue protesting in the snow. Some protesters burned placards and one spray-painted the word "Revolution" onto Nelson's Column
Nelson's Column
Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in central London built to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The monument was constructed between 1840 and 1843 to a design by William Railton at a cost of £47,000. It is a column of the Corinthian...

, a monument commemorating the death of Admiral Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...

. Others threw plastic bottles and fireworks
Fireworks
Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event is a display of the effects produced by firework devices...

 at the police lines, and at one point there "was a scuffle as a knot of policemen rushed one of the protesters, grabbing him to arrest him, and the crowd flocked angrily to the area." At another time, a group of riot police moved into the crowd of protesters in order to attempt to secure Nelson's Column, only to be surrounded by demonstrators shouting "Who's kettling who? We're kettling you!" Other slogans shouted at police during the protest included "Shame on you!" and "Your job's next".

One BBC reporter, Heather Sharp, talked to members of the protest, and learned that there were those who both wanted a peaceful protest and those that felt that a violent clash with the police would be necessary, whilst others commented on how they disliked the way that the media was characterising them; one commented that "I hate the way [the government and press] try and blame it on a small minority, everyone here is angry – it's not a small group of hardcore anarchists, it's just students who are very, very angry."

By the end of the day, police had arrested 146 demonstrators who had refused to leave Trafalgar Square; 139 of them were arrested for breach of the peace
Breach of the peace
Breach of the peace is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries, and in a wider public order sense in Britain.-Constitutional law:...

, whilst seven were arrested on suspicion of violent disorder. Seven more had been arrested in central London earlier in the day. As one reporter noted, "above us, on the steps of the National Gallery
National gallery
The National Gallery is an art gallery on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom.National Gallery may also refer to:*Armenia: National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan*Australia:**National Gallery of Australia, Canberra...

, tourists look confused at this vision of Britain 2010, angry and fighting in the snow."

Catford protest

The night before, on 28 November, a crowd of two to three hundred protesters gathered outside of Lewisham
Lewisham
Lewisham is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...

 Town Hall in Catford
Catford
Catford is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-Architecture:...

, south London, where a council meeting was then in progress, in order to protest against wider public sector cuts. Several Youtube videos of the incident were shown on national news, including the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

. Many of the protesters had come from nearby sixth forms (due to potential Education Maintenance Allowance
Education Maintenance Allowance
Education Maintenance Allowance is a financial scheme applicable to students and those undertaking unpaid work-based learning in the Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland aged between sixteen and nineteen whose parents have a certain level of taxable income...

 cuts) and also from Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths College
Goldsmiths, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom which specialises in the arts, humanities and social sciences, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1891 as Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute...

. Demonstrators, playing music and political slogans from boombox
Boombox
Boombox is a colloquial expression for a portable cassette or CD player. Other terms known are ghetto blaster, jambox, or radio-cassette. It is a device capable of receiving radio stations and playing recorded music , usually at relatively high volume...

es forced their way into the building, where a smoke bomb was let off, while another protester climbed onto the roof and unfurled a banner. Several more flares were set off outside and windows smashed, with riot police from the Territorial Support Group close by, were called and several arrests were made. One of the protesters, Sue Luxton, a former Green Party councillor who had subsequently become a teacher, told the press that "I wanted to peacefully express my anger at the cuts... People were angry that they couldn't get in." Jeremy Burton, the Lewisham Borough Commander, later told press that "unfortunately due to the actions of a minority of people present a number of my officers were injured whilst carrying out their police duties", with 16 officers being treated for minor injuries.

Protests elsewhere

On the day of the main demonstration, there were also further protests across the United Kingdom, including in Cardiff, Cambridge, Colchester
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...

, Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

, Bath, Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

, Brighton, Manchester, Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe is a town within North Lincolnshire, England. It is the administrative centre of the North Lincolnshire unitary authority, and had an estimated total resident population of 72,514 in 2010. A predominantly industrial town, Scunthorpe, the United Kingdom's largest steel processing centre,...

 and Bristol. About 1,500 students, including school children, took part in the protest in Brighton, whilst protests in Bristol involved police being pelted with mustard
Mustard (condiment)
Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant...

 and ten demonstrators were arrested. In Sheffield, police were pelted with snowballs as they guarded the constituency office of Nick Clegg
Nick Clegg
Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...

 from a crowd of two hundred protesters. The British protests coincided with those in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, where demonstrations occurred in Milan, Turin, Naples, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, Palermo, Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...

, Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

, and Rome where riot police were called in to prevent students from gaining access to the parliament building.

Meanwhile, whilst occupations that had begun the previous week continued at University College London, Newcastle University and the University of Cambridge, a new one began at the University of Nottingham, where 150 protesters occupied a building. University buildings and local government buildings were occupied in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 and Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

 while police blocked an attempt at occupation of the council building in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

. The protesters occupying the council chamber in Birmingham left after four hours, with a police spokesperson commending the protesters for their "wholly peaceful" behaviour, and noting that it "couldn't have been more different from the violent clashes seen recently in London".

Parliament Square protest

On Thursday 9 December, the day of the scheduled vote on education reform in the Houses of Parliament, two separate protests were organised in central London; one being led by the National Union of Students (NUS), the other jointly by the University of London Union
University of London Union
The University of London Union is the university-wide students' union for the University of London...

 (ULU) and the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC), with an expected 40,000 people attending. ULU members handed out green hard hats with the words "Tax the banks, not the students" on them, whilst a rally was held in Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury
-Places:* Bloomsbury is an area in central London.* Bloomsbury , related local government unit* Bloomsbury, New Jersey, New Jersey, USA* Bloomsbury , listed on the NRHP in Maryland...

 at midday, where such speakers as Clare Solomon
Clare Solomon
Clare Michelle Jane Solomon was the president of the University of London Union.Solomon was born to Michael and Noreen Graham in Winchester, Hampshire. Her father served in the Royal Military Police before emigrating to New Zealand with the family. She later returned to England to give birth to a...

, president of ULU, addressed the crowd.

Along the roads next to the Houses of Parliament, the Metropolitan Police had positioned lines of officers in riot clothing, along with several police vans, blocking any protesters from getting to the building. The force's superintendent Julia Pendry issued a statement in which she stated that "Protesters will be allowed sight and sound of parliament. However, there is evidence to suggest a number of people will come to London intent on causing violence and disorder. They are jumping on the bandwagon of these demonstrations with no intention to protest or interest in student tuition fees… those who are intent on committing crime will also be dealt with and they will suffer the consequences of their actions."

Shortly after 2 pm, the protesters, having marched from Bloomsbury, reached Parliament Square
Parliament Square
Parliament Square is a square outside the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in London. It features a large open green area in the middle, with a group of trees to its west. It contains statues of famous statesmen and is the scene of rallies and protests, as well as being a tourist...

, opposite the Houses of Parliament, where they pushed down the metal barriers and occupied the central grassy area of the square. Protesters began lighting fires using their placards, and a giant "NO" was painted onto the grass in the middle of the Square.

Around 3:30 pm, police kettled those several thousand protesters who were in the square, preventing any of them from leaving, and stating that it was "due to the level of violence that our officers are facing." Subsequently, mounted police charged into the crowd on one side of the Square in an attempt to disperse them. A field hospital was set up on the green providing emergency first aid to protestors as well as tea and food within the containment area. Around 30 protestors were treated, most for head injuries.
Police used batons
Baton (law enforcement)
A truncheon or baton is essentially a club of less than arm's length made of wood, plastic, or metal...

 to hit protesters, and a St John Ambulance member told press that he had treated ten protesters for head injuries from being struck by police batons by 4.30 pm. One protester, philosophy student Alfie Meadows, suffered a blow to the head allegedly from a police truncheon that knocked him unconscious. Being taken to hospital, it was discovered that he was suffering from bleeding of the brain, and required brain surgery. One journalist who witnessed the clashes between police and students, Jonathan Haynes of The Guardian, characterised the police tactics as "very heavy handed".

Meanwhile, police told press that they were allowing those protesters who were young or vulnerable to leave the kettle, but those inside the Square commented that in actuality this was not always happening, and journalists within the kettle noted that the majority of protesters were unaware that they could technically leave. Reporter Jonathan Haynes noted that at this point police were refusing to let him or anyone else leave the kettle, even though he showed them his media card.

At 5:41 pm, news reached the protesters that the government had voted to support the proposals. Clashes ensued between the crowd and the police, and the protesters pulled along metal fencing to separate themselves from riot police, who were trying to push them all into the centre of the Square. Later on in the evening, with the protesters still kettled in the Square, masked protesters smashed all of the windows on the ground floor of HM Treasury
HM Treasury
HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...

. At 9:15 pm the protest was forced onto Waterloo Bridge where it was kettled until approximately 23:30.

Protests elsewhere in central London

Due to the Parliament Square protest being kettled, many other demonstrators could not enter the Square and so disseminated across much of the rest of central London. Some were separately kettled around The Cenotaph, where Charlie Gilmour, the adopted son of Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

 guitarist David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...

 and a student at Girton College, Cambridge
Girton College, Cambridge
Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. It was England's first residential women's college, established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon. The full college status was only received in 1948 and marked the official admittance of women to the...

, was pictured swinging from a Union Flag
Union Flag
The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...

 on the memorial; he later apologised, claiming that he "did not realise" it was the Cenotaph. Gilmour was also photographed attempting to start a fire at the Supreme Court; and tossing a lump of concrete while wearing latex gloves.

Meanwhile, many of those students who remained around the area of Trafalgar Square continued to protest, with about 150 holding a sit-in in the adjacent National Gallery
National gallery
The National Gallery is an art gallery on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom.National Gallery may also refer to:*Armenia: National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan*Australia:**National Gallery of Australia, Canberra...

, while others attempted to set fire to the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree
Trafalgar Square Christmas tree
The Trafalgar Square Christmas tree is the name for the famous Christmas tree donated to the people of London by the city of Oslo each year since 1947...

.

During the protests, a car taking Prince Charles
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...

 and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall to the evening's Royal Variety Performance
Royal Variety Performance
The Royal Variety Performance is a gala evening held annually in the United Kingdom, which is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family, usually the reigning monarch. In more recent years Queen Elizabeth II and The Prince of Wales have alternately attended the performance...

 at the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...

 was attacked on Regent Street
Regent Street
Regent Street is one of the major shopping streets in London's West End, well known to tourists and Londoners alike, and famous for its Christmas illuminations...

 and Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...

 Theresa May
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May is a British Conservative politician who is Home Secretary in the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition government. She was elected to Parliament in 1997 as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, and served as the Chairman of the Conservative Party, 2003–04...

 confirmed a protester 'made contact' with Camilla. In Oxford Street, Topshop
Topshop
Topshop is a British clothes retailer with shops in over 20 countries and online operations in a number of its markets. Its sales come primarily from women's clothing and fashion accessories...

 was damaged, as rioters sprayed "pay your tax" on the building and broke windows.

Response

Theresa May issued a statement in which she "utterly condemned" the actions of the protesters, and declared that "What we are seeing in London tonight, the wanton vandalism, smashing of windows, has nothing to do with peaceful protest... Attacks on police officers and property show that some of the protesters have no respect for London or its citizens."

Nearly 50 people complained to the IPCC about police behaviour during the various protests held around the country, with the majority directed against the Metropolitan Police, including complaints of violence used against protesters.
Following the protests, video footage of Jody McIntyre, who has cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement....

, being pulled out of his wheelchair by police, who claimed they were acting in the interest of his own safety (he had positioned himself to the front-line facing the police) was posted to YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

. The footage showed him being pulled out of his wheelchair and dragged across the ground by officers from the Metropolitan Police during the protests. McIntyre said he had been pulled out of his wheelchair twice; only one incident was shown in the video footage. An interview with McIntyre about the incident by BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 journalist Ben Brown
Ben Brown (journalist)
Ben Brown is a journalist and news presenter for the BBC's rolling news channel BBC News. He has also presented the BBC News at Six and the BBC News at Ten and is currently an occasional presenter on the BBC Weekend News on BBC One...

 on 13 December 2010 was described by The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

 newspaper as "having a distinct lack of sympathy from the BBC" and that the incident had "attracted thousands of complaints." Mcintyre's complaint was later rejected by Scotland Yard.

Street medics

Street medics treated student protesters during the parliament square protest on Thursday 9 December, the day of the scheduled vote to raise university tuition fees. A field tent was set up on the green providing emergency first aid to protesters as well as tea and food within the containment area. Around 30 protesters were treated, most for head injuries.. However, many police also refused to treat injured protesters, claiming that some injured protesters were just "agitators".

Influence

On 30 November, following the third main day of protesting, the Welsh Assembly announced that it would not permit an increase in fees for Welsh students. A reporter from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 noted that this meant that if the plans went through in England, "it would mean that an English student at a university in England could pay more than £17,000 more for a three-year degree than a Welsh student on the same course." .

A writer in British newspaper The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

, writing several hours before the government vote on the topic, noted that "It seems likely the tuition fees bill will pass but I'd still argue that – whatever your view on the merits of the new fees system – the protests have been a success at least in calling politicians to account for broken pledges, something you see rarely theses [sic] days."

As a result of the student protests, numerous groups opposing the Coalition government's austerity measures have sprung up over the country, one example being Bloomsbury Fightback! which is based in Bloomsbury, London
Bloomsbury, London
Bloomsbury is an area of central London between Euston Road and Holborn, developed by the Russell family in the 17th and 18th centuries into a fashionable residential area. It is notable for its array of garden squares, literary connections and numerous cultural, educational and healthcare...

 and was formed by radical students and workers, primarily from the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

. The anti-tax evasion group UK Uncut
UK Uncut
UK Uncut is a United Kingdom-based protest group established in October 2010 to protest against tax avoidance in the UK and to raise awareness about cuts to public services. Various sources have described the group as left-wing in its political orientation...

 also has a sizable overlap with student activists who were politicised during the student protests, and it was common for UK Uncut direct actions to take place during the student demos.

See also

  • 2011 United Kingdom protests
  • Funding Our Future
    Funding Our Future
    Funding Our Future is the name given by the National Union of Students to an ongoing series of events held in London and around the UK in 2008, 2009 and 2010...

  • Browne Review
    Browne Review
    The Browne Review or Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance was a review to consider the future direction of higher education funding in England. It was launched on the 9 November 2009 and published its findings on 12 October 2010. It was chaired by Lord Browne of...

  • 2010 student protest in Dublin
    2010 student protest in Dublin
    The 2010 student protest in Dublin was a demonstration that took place in the centre of the city on 3 November 2010 in opposition to a proposed increase in university registration fees, further cuts to the student maintenance grant and increasing graduate unemployment and emigration levels caused...

  • Crisis situations and protests in Europe since 2000
    Crisis situations and protests in Europe since 2000
    List of crises situations and major protests in countries of Europe since year 2000.- 2011 :*2011 England riots in August*2011 Kosovo border clashes from July onwards, involving Kosovan Police and KFOR against Kosovan Serb demonstrators*2011 E...

  • List of riots in London
  • Sukey
    Sukey
    Sukey is an organization which emerged in Britain on 28 January 2011 with the aim of improving communications among participants in the student demonstrations...

  • 2011 student protests in Chile

External links

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