Wednesday the 10th November saw tens of thousands of students take to the streets in a bid to stop the Government from releasing the cap on Student fees. Ultimately this would mean that many future students would be paying an enormous amount just to put themselves through a mere three years of higher education. Young, old, British and International citizens walked along Horse Guard Avenue in a peaceful protest, intent on being heard. With Bangor students showing the rest of the crowd what we were made of through chants, placards and songs, the protest got off to a successful start. Interviews from people such as the Chair of the Bangor University Labour Party, the President of our SU and other sabbs, a positive outcome was expected. However it was visible that organizers had not planned for such a large amount of people turning up to the event.
Peaceful Protest Chanting
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Interview with Rich Gorman
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Interview with Labour Society Chair
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Interview with Jo Caulfield & Danielle Giles
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By the time the we had got to Houses of Parliament it was clearthat nobody was going anywhere fast as it had taken two hours just to walk down the street. It soon became apparent that many students were not walking any further and with many a mile to be travelled back home, universities decided to leave and head back, including Bangor.
President of NUS Wales
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Myself and Amy decided to stay and see how things developed or whether the dispersion that was taking place meant that the protest had come to an end. Little did we know it was far from over. As we walked further and further towards the Millbank Tower (Conservative Headquarters) it was clear that something was going on, especially with the dozen police that came storming past. Intrigued we carried on towards the building where we were greeted with many protesters. Waiting to see what would happen, we witnessed more and more people joining onto the mass crowd that had formed until well over a thousand people stood rallying in the courtyard of the Millbank Tower.
Events developed with people starting fires outside the neighboring businesses such as Pizza Express and smashing the windows resulting in many protestors gaining unauthorized access into the tower. The protest had now become a riot. Stewards had started telling people on the pavement opposite the building to move on, however many retaliated by questioning the point of the protest if we were not going to fight to be heard – an opinion that can be both favoured and argued.
With things developing rapidly it was no wonder more police were called in. Rioters on the roof, consisting of students, anarchists and protestors, had managed to get hold of fire extinguishers and began letting them off, with one protestor throwing an empty canister over the side of the roof. The extinguisher hit a police officer and a student causing head injury to both. Footage from news sources allows us to hear other protestors chanting to those on the roof, to stop throwing things down the side of the building. From what we can report two police officers were injured as well as several rioters.
Riot 1
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Riot 2
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Riot 3
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Finally myself and amy were informed that the riot police were getting ready to close off both sides of the road and that if we didn’t want to be involved with their actions, to move along quickly. We chose this opportunity to leave the area but waited just outside to get interviews with those in the courtyard. A couple of these can be heard below.
Throughout the evening and well into the night, police arrested over 50 students and eventually found the person who felt it necessary to throw the fire extinguisher into the crowd. In conclusion it can be claimed that we have not done anything to help our situation. Suggestions that the Government will not be willing to work with us can be partially confirmed with the PM saying that violence will not be tolerated and also by the fact that he is standing by his decision of removing the cap. However Bangor, alongside many other universities will not give up and perhaps many of us will see more peacefulprotests taking place in the near future. Although for now all that remains are the ruins and disdain of what was supposed to be a productive and informative march, something that many students/citizens set out to achieve.
With footage below of the events that took place, questions begin to arise. For example was the anger directed at the wrong place, should we have marched towards both the Lib Dem Headquarters as well as Conservatives? Did the police not do as much as they could have due to thefact that the cuts are affecting them too? Or was it just a protest that was badly organised, and underestimated in numbers? Add you view…
Student Perspective
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Student Perspective
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