No Fees, No Cuts! Students March Through London

Thousands of students, teachers, parents and others marched peacefully through London today in the latest demonstration to defend education and the public sector. London, UK. 29/01/2011

The London demonstration, backed by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts was one of two national marches today, with another taking place in Manchester.

Again police gave out a leaflet to marchers, with a clear map showing the official route and describing how the march would be policed. It told them, for example, that they could expect to see large numbers of police protecting some key buildings such as Downing St, as well as police at road junctions. The largest concentration of police was however at Millbank, which police had left the Conservative HQ almost completely unprotected for the first of these protests in November - with rather predictable results.

Police do seem to have learnt lessons after their mistakes last year, and I saw no real problems arising today. Despite the number of protesters in anarchist dress with facemasks, most students are not out to cause trouble. But if police start pushing people around, or kettling them, problems are sure to arise.

The march had started early, following a brief rally in Malet St, and by the time I arrived the front was making its way out of Russell Square, but there was no sign of an end. Altogether there were perhaps 5,000 taking part.

Small groups of protesters stopped at Topshop and Vodaphone shops in the Strand and protested about their tax avoidance. Police soon came and persuaded the students to move on. Opposite Downing Street the march paused and several bright orange flares were lit at the front of the march.

Some of the students also stopped in Parliament Square for some time, and a samba band provided music for some dancing; the mood was upbeat and there was no trouble, and after a while everyone moved off and made there way to the end of the march on the Embankment by Tate Britain. By the time I arrived with the tail end of the marchers, there was no sign of the rally there, which had presumably finished.

At one point outside the Millbank tower complex, police wanted to drive a couple of vans of reinforcement through a crowd, and some people sat down on the street. Police asked them to move but met with no cooperation. Rather than try and force the issue, police just formed a line so that the two vans could bypass the seated students and drive along the pavement. It was a simple solution that avoided further friction. Later there were reports of half a dozen people arrested in minor incidents.

Some of those on the march were planning to go on to protest elsewhere, including Oxford Street and the Egyptian Embassy, but I decided to go home.