There were violent scenes in London yesterday as students demonstrated outside Parliament on the voting day for proposed tuition fee rises.
The initially peaceful protest escalated as MPs delayed voting on the proposals until the 5.30pm deadline and police used containment tactics to control the crowd.
According to the ambulance service, 37 people were injured and 22 arrested on the march, which started at noon on Malet Street near UCL, and made its way towards Parliament Square. A number of Oxford students were among the estimated 20,000 people present.
At around 2pm a standoff between a line of police and demonstrators trying to break through one side of Parliament Square resulted in policemen being chased as they tried to retreat. Shortly afterwards metal fencing on the south side of the square was ripped down and protestors flooded onto the grass.
Police armed with riot gear prevented the protestors from getting closer to Parliament. Missiles such as glass bottles and paint bombs were thrown at them from the crowd.
Although there were standoffs with the police in most corners of the square, there was a positive atmosphere at the centre as protesters lit bonfires, played music, and decorated statues and trees with banners and posters.
However, the mood of the day changed at around 3.30pm, when eight police on horseback charged at the crowd at the South West corner of the square, creating panic and fear.
The police advanced in lines on foot, using batons, whilst protestors used metal fencing to try and drive through the police barrier. The area was then “kettled” by police, and demonstrators were prevented from leaving the square, causing further panic.
Teddy Hall second year Frances Reed witnessed a petrol bomb being thrown at the police. She commented, “it was terrifying, it hit the crowd instead. The level of violence was unacceptable – in hindsight, if I’d known the protest was going to be hijacked by anarchists and idiots I wouldn’t have gone.
“I think the kettling was necessary after the petrol bomb, but there were people in the crowd younger than 15 who got trapped there. It actually looked like everyone was dispersing, but the police lined up with riot vans and pushed forward incredibly quickly and that was when things began to get really nasty. People were really frightened.”
However, some sympathised with the violent protestors. One second year Oxford student said, “I know people can be disillusioned by the violence [of the anarchists] but you have to admire them for sticking by their principles. More than any day since the Iraq war, today has shown how out of touch the people in government are, and how unhealthy this ‘Westminster’ style of democracy is.
“The idea that these people are ‘professional agitators,’ creating violence for violence’s sake, is extremely misleading. They are violent because of their anger at the political process in this country, and because they want something different.”
At around 5.45pm word spread that the vote on trebling university fees to £9,000 had taken place and passed with a majority of just 21 out of 649 standing MPs. MP for Oxford West Nicola Blackwood voted yes, and Andrew Smith of Oxford East voted no.
During the evening the windows of the Treasury were smashed, and in a smaller scale attack, so were two windows of the Supreme Court. However, the crowd seemed unimpressed with this action, calling the perpetrator a “dickhead”.
A breakaway group of protestors moved onto Trafalgar Square, where they attempted to set fire to a Christmas tree, and The Strand, where Topshop and other stores were attacked. The National Gallery was also occupied.
The windows of a car containing Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles were smashed and attacked with paint, drawing condemnation from the Prime Minister and police officials.
A member of the OxfordEducation Campaign, which has been responsible for organising protests in Oxford including the Radcliffe Camera occupation, commented, “it’s really sad that the press seem to have jumped on the violence and what happened to Prince Charles instead of yesterday’s real issues. [Attacking the Royal car] obviously wasn’t about fees and funding, they were shouting ‘off with their heads’, for God’s sake.
“Is it any wonder students are angry when the majority express ourselves through peaceful demonstration and we’re still treated like criminals and our views ignored?”
The proposals to raise fees have triggered a wave of student and school pupil protests, with a march last month leading to an attack on the Conservative headquarters in Millbank.
Dozens of university and school buildings across the country have been occupied by students, including sit-ins at Oxford council offices and university sites. Student union heads and protest organisers promised today that “December 9th is only the beginning.”
