Student Protest 9th Dec

On Thursday, the student protest kicked off in Parliament square and in other parts of London. In the morning at the meeting point on Malet St there was a positive atmosphere. There were thousands of University students, lecturers, parents, school / college students and workers, all gathered to show their support of the protest against the raise in tuition fees, and the cutting of Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) which helps 6th form students stay in education.

From the beginning however, there was tension in the air. The Police were out in force, evidently prepared for it to turn violent. The protest started with Police holding the front of the line, this caused demonstrators to try and break through the Police line, which ended in a scuffle and a Police officer getting injured.

The volatile atmosphere continued as the march reached Trafalgar then Parliament squares, where the crowd was held. It is alleged there was high levels of violence from protesters and Police and property damaged.

On the positive side, there was a diverse cross-section of society from different backgrounds and of different ages at the march. Some say the demo was ‘hijacked’ by gangs and hardcore anarchists, I’m not sure if this is the case, it seemed that they were a lot young people from poorer backgrounds, taking an opportunity to show their opinion, which unfortunately turned into violence.