Page is constantly updated, keep checking back for latest news.
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More press support for our cause, not support for the violence of course, but support for those who were lied to when we voted and more claims that these government cuts in education will not actually help our economy at all...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/12/nick-cohen-nick-clegg-demonstrations
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Strong words from another protestor present in London on Thursday.
And praise for he schoolchildren who turned out in large numbers to fight for their education! This is rightfully their battle, and by the looks of it they do us proud. Our school and college pupils in York have certainly showed spirit and deication, long may it continue!
http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/laurie-penny/2010/11/children-police-kettle-protest
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http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/news/96-education/8655-student-protest-evidence-of-police-violence-continues-to-emerge
Videos from youtube on the Counterfire website. These videos clearly show a lot of violence between protestors and police, but do, if you look out for it, show some police officers putting up thier visors and communicating with the protestors. These men and women who chose to talk to the crowd instead of ignoring them are to be honoured and thanked. Whatever our views on what happened that day, there is no denying that there was violence triggered by both police and protestors, and there were law abiding people trying to communicate on both sides. It is a shame that in all the fury of the day, these people who chose words over action were overwhelmed by the anger and violence that made the headlines.
I would urge our readers never to hastily condemn the police as a whole, as we ourselves despise being condemned as violent protestors. There are always those who trigger violence among us and there always will be. The only thing we can be certain of is our own actions. That is the one thing for which we are solely responsible. When it comes to it, remember that there were people who spoke to the crowd, there WERE police who tried to work with people. It is, once again the system as a whole that has failed us. And it is at the system we must direct our anger and our energy.
If someone treats you with respect, treat them also with respect, if someone talks to you, do not ignore them. If someone ignores you, do not give up talking. If someone beats you, defend yourself, but do not attack back. There is a right to self defence but it is our responsibility to make sure we do not then behave in an aggressive manner.
It is our individual choice when the heat of the moment takes us, whether to attack someone or not, whether to strike back or whether to take the blow. It is that decision that defines us. And at the end of the day, it is ourselves we have to live with.
Whatever you do in that moment is entirely your decision, but when you make it, be sure you will not regret it.
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BBC interview with two protestors who were, at the time of broadcast, kettled on Westminster bridge flanked by two lines of riot police who refused to let them leave and refused even to talk to them.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11969302
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/10/student-operation-tuition-fees-protest
Student hospitalised after being beaten in the head by riot police at yesterday's london protest
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Scenes of student violence seen outside parliament yesterday, only watch if you have a strong stomach...
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Our London Correspondent, Ben Scicluna, speaks out about yesterday's protests in London, at which he was present and suffered injury and concussion at the hands of the riot police...
9th December 2010.
'Man is born free – and he is everywhere in chains.' The words of Jean-Jacques Rousseau still resonate. Government exists solely for the protection of the people yet this has rarely been the case. The political elite is self-serving, self-preservering and the insatiable thirst for power is their only concern.
Salus populi est suprema lex? Think again.
With an electoral system rendering the average voter without any influence over the political system, direct action becomes the only way to ensure your voice is heard. Society is unlikely to change. Those with power and wealth shall keep it, those down-trodden shall remain so, the status quo shall remain.
However, it is right that you are counted. Complacency is guilt by association. Edmund Burke's comment on the flourishing of evil is ever true. If you do not take action over the issues you believe in you are giving a carte-blanche to those who would oppress you, you give them the right to do, with little consequence, that which satisfies them. Politicians will protect their interests, political parties will loyally serve their donors, they shall cling to power.
Stand up and be counted.
Stability is what those in power require. A population unwilling to act is a population willing to accept diktats from above. A population showing its anger through political action, peaceful or violent, shows that there will always be good people willing to defend their beliefs, and such a philosophy is venerable.
Yesterday thousands of people, not only students, took to the streets of London to show that they will not lay down and accept that which is reprehensible to them. This government is making the poorest of society pay for the mistakes of the very richest. Students and future-students ARE the future yet they are burdened with the past like never before.
The actions of protesters were valid. A political system which ignores the voice of the people justifies actions against it. The state and servants of the state become valid targets.
Yesterday I witnessed scenes unimaginable in a so-called 'free nation' so willing to preach the ideas of demos kratos around the world. The right of peaceful protest and lobby enshrined in law was denied, illegal containment implemented and protesters rightly vented their frustrations. A person trapped in a cage becomes violent. Unable to leave, attacked and oppressed by a police force unwilling to serve the people, otherwise peaceful people became desperate.
I witnessed children, on the verge of tears, begging to leave. The response? A man twice their size in armour, raising a baton and screaming at them to fuck off. I witnessed rational people attempting to reason with unreasonable people, hell-bent on exercising their authority. I witnessed men laughing at the discomfort of the youth, and happily attacking any who challenged them. I saw a girl falling to the ground attacked with a heavy downward blow from a full body shield, her only crime being losing her balance in front of a police line. People attacking with nothing but words were in turn attacked with truncheons. I witnessed a police column rampaging through a crowd, running at full speed, smashing or trampling any in their way. Were these the 'trouble makers'? No, they were the peaceful protesters of the centre. The violent protesters were primarily concerned with the damage of government property, the police response was the damage of the people. Surely this more than anything shows the true nature of our government and political system.
I praise those who defended themselves against police brutality. Self-Defence is not a crime. A blow to the face of a person beating you to the ground is justified. I am glad police were injured yesterday, for many certainly deserved it. Yet I also praise those police officers who were concerned, who were unhappy at the general strategy, or merely those who were willing to be polite and treat their fellow citizens like human beings. I am glad the vehicle carrying the Prince of Wales was attacked, the people's anger shown, just as I am glad no harm came to them for they themselves were innocent. I am glad the Treasury was attacked. Property is never paramount to human life.
This is the beginning. A generation is showing its anger, flexing its muscles and standing up for what they believe in. Yesterday I was happy to face lines of riot police. I shall do so again, and again, and again. When the people no longer stand up for their rights, what is left is nothing but a nation of sheep led to the slaughterhouse.
Ben Scicluna.
