Police officers were injured today after a 20,000-strong mob - mainly students - rioted outside the Houses of Parliament in protest over the increase in university tuition fees in amazing scenes reminiscent of the the 1990 poll tax riots.
Students have been particularly angry at the Liberal Democrats, who are in a coalition government with the Tories. Before this year's General Election, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg stated several times that he and his party were against increasing tuition fees for students. Now, in government, the Lib Dems have made an amazing U-turn and now SUPPORT the hike.
Three officers were wounded and had to be taken to hospital after clashes outside the Mother of Parliaments when a hardcore group of protesters - comprising students, anarchists and an assortment of Left Wingers - repeatedly tried to break through police lines outside the Houses of Parliament.
Footage showed one policeman lying motionless on the ground. Medics fitted him with a neck brace and used a makeshift stretcher to remove him.
One mounted officer was thrown from his horse as missiles including flares, sticks, snooker balls and smoke bombs were hurled from the crowds across the cordon.
One student was even spotted urinating on the Winston Churchill statue (forgetting that if it wasn't for Churchill he wouldn't be free to protest in the first place), wooden benches were set alight and the grass was covered with a huge No in bright red graffiti.
Protesters were forced to run back into the Square after mounted police charged at the crowds in a desperate bid to stop the surge. Seven have been arrested so far.
Another numpty even took it upon herself to climb the Cenotaph - a tribute to Britain's war dead - to pull down a Union Jack.
Despite the protests, the Coalition Government were successful in getting the Commons to support the hike in tuition fees from £3,290 to £9,000 a year. The government won by 323 votes to 302 - a majority of just 21.
Early estimates suggested that nine or ten Conservatives had voted against the policy and that 20 or 21 of the 57 Lib Dems in the Coalition had voted down the policy, rather than abstaining.
A Tory and two Lib Dem private secretaries quit tonight before the vote.
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, this morning branded opponents of the plans 'dreamers' and denied he was ashamed of backing the rise, insisting he had to deal with 'the way the world is'.
And, as usual these days within the United Kingdom, it will only be the English who are suffering. The huge rise in tuition fees will only affect English students - Scottish and Welsh students do NOT pay tuition fees and have them paid instead by, even more gallingly, the English taxpayer.
But the English students are showing their anger tonight.
Three police officers seriously injured in battle with mob of anarchists outside Parliament as MPs vote through the rise in student fees
By Daily Mail Reporter
9th December 2010
Daily Mail
Around 20,000 students and activists descended on central London as the demonstrations of recent weeks culminated in a final show of anger at the hike and the Liberal Democrat U-turn.
Three officers were wounded and had to be taken to hospital after clashes when a hardcore group of protesters repeatedly tried to break through police lines outside the Houses of Parliament.
Footage showed one policeman lying motionless on the ground. Medics fitted him with a neck brace and used a makeshift stretcher to remove him.
Blaze: A security hut burning as protesters look on outside the Houses of Parliament tonight
Tensions: Police officers scuffling with demonstrators in Westminster
Dragged to safety: A police officer is helped by a medic during the protests
Rescue: Police officers listen for a heartbeat on an injured protestor
Motionless: A police officer injured in the protests is helped by medics
One mounted officer was knocked from his horse as missiles including flares, sticks, snooker balls and smoke bombs were hurled from the crowds across the cordon.
As MPs prepared to vote on the controversial fee rise tonight, Scotland Yard resorted to 'kettling' the demonstrators in Parliament Square in a bid to contain the violence.
A student was spotted urinating on the Winston Churchill statue, wooden benches were set alight and the grass was covered with a huge No in bright red graffiti.
Protesters were forced to run back into the Square after mounted police charged at the crowds in a desperate bid to stop the surge. Seven have been arrested so far.
Teenager Sophie Down said: 'The police were backing off and we were trying to work it what was happening and we didn't know what was going on, then they all just started charging.
'I'm worried about my friends. I saw a guy who was sitting on the ground and I could see something was wrong with him.
'Everyone was in a good mood - it was like a carnival - but there are people who are clearly looking for a fight.'
Elsewhere, as protesters fanned out through Whitehall, a female student was caught climbing up the Cenotaph - the monument to Britain's war dead - using the Union Jack flying there.
No respect: A protester swinging from the Union Jack flag flying on the Cenotaph
Bloodied: Police medics carry away an injured protester
Flashpoint: Crowds of protesters packed into Parliament Square, where they threw missiles at police
Vast crowds of protesters surged in to Parliament Square at around 2pm, trampling security barriers to get closer to the House of Commons and violence soon flared.
Police reinforcements had to be rushed in to bolster the ring of steel, with officers donning riot helmets and shields to protect themselves
They battled to keep the cordon in place to avoid any invasion of Parliament, as happened during the pro-hunting demonstration in 2004.
No trains were stopping at Westminster underground station tonight to avoid more people joining the crowds.
The policy to increase the fees from £3,290 to £9,000 was carried by 323 votes to 302 - a majority of 21.
Early estimates suggested that nine or ten Conservatives had voted against the policy and that 20 or 21 of the 57 Lib Dems in the Coalition had voted down the policy, rather than abstaining.
A Tory and two Lib Dem private secretaries quit tonight before the vote.
Nick Clegg this morning branded opponents of the plans 'dreamers' and denied he was ashamed of backing the rise, insisting he had to deal with 'the way the world is'.
Business Secretary Vince Cable, who opened this afternoon's debate in the Commons, also warned that he could not hand out popular policies like Father Christmas.
Cordon: Police in riot gear after they were paint bombed by protesters
Enlarge
Democracy in action: Student protesters gathered for a march on Parliament against tuition fees
Widespread: Protesters in Parliament Square and (right) a student urinates on the Churchill statue
Deputy leader Simon Hughes abstained, in a small victory for the Government.
Mr Hughes insisted this morning that the move to increase the tuition fees ceiling to £9,000-a-year could discourage poorer students from pursuing higher education.
'I have decided that I won't be able to support the Government on the fees level, particularly because I believe that for a constituency like mine, the level of fee increase... may have a significant disincentive effect on youngsters going to university,' he said.
There will be a single vote on the proposed increase after none of the possible amendments were selected - a situation that will help the Government.
The coalition's majority was enough to pass the vote but it risks inflicting long-term damage if the rebels coalesce into a disaffected faction and voters fail to forgive their U-turn.
Some claim it could become the party's Iraq war or poll tax and dog them when it comes to the next election.
Difficult: Business Secretary Vince Cable opening today's debate, flanked by Nick Clegg and David Cameron
Crowds of protesters swarm around the statute of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square
Demonstrators and police officers are surrounded by red smoke in Parliament Square
Early on in the debate, protesters had to be removed from the Commons public gallery after they stood up, waved and shouted.
Around five protesters were strong-armed out of the chamber by doorkeepers, as much of the rest of the public gallery burst into applause.
Most MPs were oblivious to the happenings above them as the gallery's reinforced glass screen blocked out the sound.
More than a dozen Lib Dems in total, including former leaders Charles Kennedy and Sir Menzies Campbell, are expected to vote against the plans.
Senior Tories concede that between 10 and 16 of their number will either vote against or abstain, despite personal pleas to some rebels by David Cameron.
The Prime Minister launched a make-or-break bid to save the plans to treble fees last night, claiming the reforms will end a system that favours privately-educated pupils like him.
Lasting six days and leaving almost 300 people dead: The Gordon Riots of 1780, the largest riots that London has ever seen.
The mob set London's Newgate Gaol alight and set free prisoners
Today's anti-tuition fee riots had 20,000 people involved. That may seem a lot, but they are miniscule compared to the Gordon Riots of 1780 in which 40,000 to 60,000 people were involved.
In 1778 Sir George Savile had successfully introduced a Catholic Relief Act, which was part of the Whig tradition of religious toleration. It absolved Roman Catholics from taking the religious oath on joining the army - and helped to boost the size of the British army, necessary in the face of war against America, France and Spain. The legislation was passed by Lord North's ministry.
Lord George Gordon
Lord George Gordon, a powerful and extreme Protestant, set up the Protestant Association in 1780, demanding the repeal of the Catholic Relief Act. He spread fears of "Popery" and royal absolutism; he suggested that Roman Catholics in the British army, especially the Irish, might join forces with their French and Spanish co-religionists and attack England. He saw the Catholic Relief Act as a threat to Anglicanism and since being a Roman Catholic was equated to being a traitor (an idea going back to Elizabeth I and the belief that a person could not be loyal to the English monarch and the Pope at the same time) his Association attracted extremists. Much anti-Catholic feeling was roused.
The high point was in June 1780 when a crowd some 60,000 strong marched to the House of Commons to present a petition for the repeal of the Catholic Relief Act. The crowd included a riotous element and the whole event got out of hand.
The mob took over London for a week. The London homes of Rockingham, Devonshire, Mansfield and Savile (the main advocates of the legislation) were attacked; those of Mansfield and Savile were burned and the others had to be defended by the militia.
The mob looted, burned, waved placards, attacked Catholic churches and presbyteries and the persons and homes of leading Catholics. It took a week for the government to collect enough militia and troops to quash the riots. The mob attacked prisons and freed prisoners. Eventually George III insisted that the troops should be called out.
John Wilkes was in command of the troops outside the Bank of England and ordered his men to fire on the crowd. This marked the end of the Wilkesite movement.
The result of the riots was:
Deputy PM Mr Clegg today denied he would feel 'ashamed' when he voted for the plans after signing a pre-election pledge to scrap fees altogether.
'I would feel ashamed if I didn't deal with the way that the world is, not simply dream of the way the world I would like it to be,' he said.
'In the circumstances in which we face, where there isn't very much money around, where many millions of other people are being asked to make sacrifices, where many young people in the future want to go to university - we have to find the solution for all of that.
'I believe that asking graduates to make a contribution - and only make a contribution after they have left university, no upfront fees whatsoever, and only when they have earned a considerably more amount of money than they do under the present system - that is the best possible choice we could have taken.'
Restrained: Police covered in paint pin down a demonstrator
Clashes: Police officers scuffling with demonstrators in Westminster
Mr Cable insisted he was 'proud' of the proposals but admitted 'it's not easy politically'. 'In government we have to make tough choices. We've made them and I think we've produced a better system,' he said.
'We accepted when we entered into the coalition agreement that some of our commitments could be maintained, others could not,' he told the BBC. 'We have had to compromise and the coalition agreement was a compromise.
'It made a commitment to produce a fairer, more progressive system of student tuition fees - we've done that. And it did provide for my colleagues who wish to abstain to do so.'
The Government felt confident enough of victory not to bring back Energy Secretary Chris Huhne from climate change talks in Mexico to bolster the 'yes' vote.
But Labour leader Ed Miliband tried to stir dissent in Lib Dem ranks, by branding it a 'day of judgment' for the party.
D-day: David Cameron leaving Downing Street this morning
'Today it looks like many Lib Dems will break that promise. To abstain in this vote will simply allow the Government to increase tuition fees. I am calling on all MPs - including Lib Dems - to vote against this increase,' he said.
Labour were pushing for a longer debate in the hope that more Lib Dems will revolt if it is drawn out.
Dr Cable yesterday issued three more concessions to try and ease jitters on the backbenches.
The salary threshold at which graduates start to repay fees will be reassessed each year in line with earnings from 2016 - not just every five years, as had been planned.
The existing £15,000 minimum earnings repayment level will also be linked to inflation from 2012, and part-time students will be able to qualify for student loans if they study for a quarter of the year, rather than having to study for a third as planned.
It has emerged that student leaders proposed £4.2billion in cuts over four years to support for poorer undergraduates, teching funds and research grants in a bid to avoid higher fees.
They e-mailed Dr Cable in October when he was drawing up his response to the Browne report on higher education funding, arguing funding cuts could avoid the need for a fee rise.
A coalition source said it was 'astonishing' that the NUS was opposing the increase when its leaders were ready to contemplate 'drastic' cuts in grants for existing students.
Blue line: Police officers standing across the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace this afternoon
Demonstrators confronting police officers outside the Houses of Parliament
dailymail.co.uk
Students have been particularly angry at the Liberal Democrats, who are in a coalition government with the Tories. Before this year's General Election, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg stated several times that he and his party were against increasing tuition fees for students. Now, in government, the Lib Dems have made an amazing U-turn and now SUPPORT the hike.
Three officers were wounded and had to be taken to hospital after clashes outside the Mother of Parliaments when a hardcore group of protesters - comprising students, anarchists and an assortment of Left Wingers - repeatedly tried to break through police lines outside the Houses of Parliament.
Footage showed one policeman lying motionless on the ground. Medics fitted him with a neck brace and used a makeshift stretcher to remove him.
One mounted officer was thrown from his horse as missiles including flares, sticks, snooker balls and smoke bombs were hurled from the crowds across the cordon.
One student was even spotted urinating on the Winston Churchill statue (forgetting that if it wasn't for Churchill he wouldn't be free to protest in the first place), wooden benches were set alight and the grass was covered with a huge No in bright red graffiti.
Protesters were forced to run back into the Square after mounted police charged at the crowds in a desperate bid to stop the surge. Seven have been arrested so far.
Another numpty even took it upon herself to climb the Cenotaph - a tribute to Britain's war dead - to pull down a Union Jack.
Despite the protests, the Coalition Government were successful in getting the Commons to support the hike in tuition fees from £3,290 to £9,000 a year. The government won by 323 votes to 302 - a majority of just 21.
Early estimates suggested that nine or ten Conservatives had voted against the policy and that 20 or 21 of the 57 Lib Dems in the Coalition had voted down the policy, rather than abstaining.
A Tory and two Lib Dem private secretaries quit tonight before the vote.
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, this morning branded opponents of the plans 'dreamers' and denied he was ashamed of backing the rise, insisting he had to deal with 'the way the world is'.
And, as usual these days within the United Kingdom, it will only be the English who are suffering. The huge rise in tuition fees will only affect English students - Scottish and Welsh students do NOT pay tuition fees and have them paid instead by, even more gallingly, the English taxpayer.
But the English students are showing their anger tonight.
Three police officers seriously injured in battle with mob of anarchists outside Parliament as MPs vote through the rise in student fees
By Daily Mail Reporter
9th December 2010
Daily Mail
- 20,000 students and activists lay siege to Westminster
- Three officers seriously injured in scuffles with activists
- Protesters throw flares, smoke bombs and snooker balls
- Scotland Yard resort to 'kettling' in Parliament Square
- Increase is carried by 323 votes to 302 - majority of 21
Around 20,000 students and activists descended on central London as the demonstrations of recent weeks culminated in a final show of anger at the hike and the Liberal Democrat U-turn.
Three officers were wounded and had to be taken to hospital after clashes when a hardcore group of protesters repeatedly tried to break through police lines outside the Houses of Parliament.
Footage showed one policeman lying motionless on the ground. Medics fitted him with a neck brace and used a makeshift stretcher to remove him.
Blaze: A security hut burning as protesters look on outside the Houses of Parliament tonight
Tensions: Police officers scuffling with demonstrators in Westminster
Dragged to safety: A police officer is helped by a medic during the protests
Rescue: Police officers listen for a heartbeat on an injured protestor
Motionless: A police officer injured in the protests is helped by medics
One mounted officer was knocked from his horse as missiles including flares, sticks, snooker balls and smoke bombs were hurled from the crowds across the cordon.
As MPs prepared to vote on the controversial fee rise tonight, Scotland Yard resorted to 'kettling' the demonstrators in Parliament Square in a bid to contain the violence.
A student was spotted urinating on the Winston Churchill statue, wooden benches were set alight and the grass was covered with a huge No in bright red graffiti.
Protesters were forced to run back into the Square after mounted police charged at the crowds in a desperate bid to stop the surge. Seven have been arrested so far.
Teenager Sophie Down said: 'The police were backing off and we were trying to work it what was happening and we didn't know what was going on, then they all just started charging.
'I'm worried about my friends. I saw a guy who was sitting on the ground and I could see something was wrong with him.
'Everyone was in a good mood - it was like a carnival - but there are people who are clearly looking for a fight.'
Elsewhere, as protesters fanned out through Whitehall, a female student was caught climbing up the Cenotaph - the monument to Britain's war dead - using the Union Jack flying there.
No respect: A protester swinging from the Union Jack flag flying on the Cenotaph
Bloodied: Police medics carry away an injured protester
Flashpoint: Crowds of protesters packed into Parliament Square, where they threw missiles at police
Vast crowds of protesters surged in to Parliament Square at around 2pm, trampling security barriers to get closer to the House of Commons and violence soon flared.
Police reinforcements had to be rushed in to bolster the ring of steel, with officers donning riot helmets and shields to protect themselves
They battled to keep the cordon in place to avoid any invasion of Parliament, as happened during the pro-hunting demonstration in 2004.
No trains were stopping at Westminster underground station tonight to avoid more people joining the crowds.
The policy to increase the fees from £3,290 to £9,000 was carried by 323 votes to 302 - a majority of 21.
Early estimates suggested that nine or ten Conservatives had voted against the policy and that 20 or 21 of the 57 Lib Dems in the Coalition had voted down the policy, rather than abstaining.
A Tory and two Lib Dem private secretaries quit tonight before the vote.
Nick Clegg this morning branded opponents of the plans 'dreamers' and denied he was ashamed of backing the rise, insisting he had to deal with 'the way the world is'.
Business Secretary Vince Cable, who opened this afternoon's debate in the Commons, also warned that he could not hand out popular policies like Father Christmas.
Cordon: Police in riot gear after they were paint bombed by protesters
Enlarge
Democracy in action: Student protesters gathered for a march on Parliament against tuition fees
Widespread: Protesters in Parliament Square and (right) a student urinates on the Churchill statue
Deputy leader Simon Hughes abstained, in a small victory for the Government.
Mr Hughes insisted this morning that the move to increase the tuition fees ceiling to £9,000-a-year could discourage poorer students from pursuing higher education.
'I have decided that I won't be able to support the Government on the fees level, particularly because I believe that for a constituency like mine, the level of fee increase... may have a significant disincentive effect on youngsters going to university,' he said.
There will be a single vote on the proposed increase after none of the possible amendments were selected - a situation that will help the Government.
The coalition's majority was enough to pass the vote but it risks inflicting long-term damage if the rebels coalesce into a disaffected faction and voters fail to forgive their U-turn.
Some claim it could become the party's Iraq war or poll tax and dog them when it comes to the next election.
Difficult: Business Secretary Vince Cable opening today's debate, flanked by Nick Clegg and David Cameron
Crowds of protesters swarm around the statute of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square
Demonstrators and police officers are surrounded by red smoke in Parliament Square
Early on in the debate, protesters had to be removed from the Commons public gallery after they stood up, waved and shouted.
Around five protesters were strong-armed out of the chamber by doorkeepers, as much of the rest of the public gallery burst into applause.
Most MPs were oblivious to the happenings above them as the gallery's reinforced glass screen blocked out the sound.
More than a dozen Lib Dems in total, including former leaders Charles Kennedy and Sir Menzies Campbell, are expected to vote against the plans.
Senior Tories concede that between 10 and 16 of their number will either vote against or abstain, despite personal pleas to some rebels by David Cameron.
The Prime Minister launched a make-or-break bid to save the plans to treble fees last night, claiming the reforms will end a system that favours privately-educated pupils like him.
Lasting six days and leaving almost 300 people dead: The Gordon Riots of 1780, the largest riots that London has ever seen.
The mob set London's Newgate Gaol alight and set free prisoners
Today's anti-tuition fee riots had 20,000 people involved. That may seem a lot, but they are miniscule compared to the Gordon Riots of 1780 in which 40,000 to 60,000 people were involved.
In 1778 Sir George Savile had successfully introduced a Catholic Relief Act, which was part of the Whig tradition of religious toleration. It absolved Roman Catholics from taking the religious oath on joining the army - and helped to boost the size of the British army, necessary in the face of war against America, France and Spain. The legislation was passed by Lord North's ministry.
Lord George Gordon
Lord George Gordon, a powerful and extreme Protestant, set up the Protestant Association in 1780, demanding the repeal of the Catholic Relief Act. He spread fears of "Popery" and royal absolutism; he suggested that Roman Catholics in the British army, especially the Irish, might join forces with their French and Spanish co-religionists and attack England. He saw the Catholic Relief Act as a threat to Anglicanism and since being a Roman Catholic was equated to being a traitor (an idea going back to Elizabeth I and the belief that a person could not be loyal to the English monarch and the Pope at the same time) his Association attracted extremists. Much anti-Catholic feeling was roused.
The high point was in June 1780 when a crowd some 60,000 strong marched to the House of Commons to present a petition for the repeal of the Catholic Relief Act. The crowd included a riotous element and the whole event got out of hand.
The mob took over London for a week. The London homes of Rockingham, Devonshire, Mansfield and Savile (the main advocates of the legislation) were attacked; those of Mansfield and Savile were burned and the others had to be defended by the militia.
The mob looted, burned, waved placards, attacked Catholic churches and presbyteries and the persons and homes of leading Catholics. It took a week for the government to collect enough militia and troops to quash the riots. The mob attacked prisons and freed prisoners. Eventually George III insisted that the troops should be called out.
John Wilkes was in command of the troops outside the Bank of England and ordered his men to fire on the crowd. This marked the end of the Wilkesite movement.
The result of the riots was:
- 290 dead
- 100 Roman Catholic buildings (churches, presbyteries, private homes) looted and/or burned (indicating some element of social protest)
- £70,000 paid in compensation to individuals
- £30,000 worth of damage to public buildings
- 25 ringleaders were hanged
- Lord George Gordon was found "Not Guilty" of treason and got off scot free
Deputy PM Mr Clegg today denied he would feel 'ashamed' when he voted for the plans after signing a pre-election pledge to scrap fees altogether.
'I would feel ashamed if I didn't deal with the way that the world is, not simply dream of the way the world I would like it to be,' he said.
'In the circumstances in which we face, where there isn't very much money around, where many millions of other people are being asked to make sacrifices, where many young people in the future want to go to university - we have to find the solution for all of that.
'I believe that asking graduates to make a contribution - and only make a contribution after they have left university, no upfront fees whatsoever, and only when they have earned a considerably more amount of money than they do under the present system - that is the best possible choice we could have taken.'
Restrained: Police covered in paint pin down a demonstrator
Clashes: Police officers scuffling with demonstrators in Westminster
Mr Cable insisted he was 'proud' of the proposals but admitted 'it's not easy politically'. 'In government we have to make tough choices. We've made them and I think we've produced a better system,' he said.
'We accepted when we entered into the coalition agreement that some of our commitments could be maintained, others could not,' he told the BBC. 'We have had to compromise and the coalition agreement was a compromise.
'It made a commitment to produce a fairer, more progressive system of student tuition fees - we've done that. And it did provide for my colleagues who wish to abstain to do so.'
The Government felt confident enough of victory not to bring back Energy Secretary Chris Huhne from climate change talks in Mexico to bolster the 'yes' vote.
But Labour leader Ed Miliband tried to stir dissent in Lib Dem ranks, by branding it a 'day of judgment' for the party.
D-day: David Cameron leaving Downing Street this morning
'Today it looks like many Lib Dems will break that promise. To abstain in this vote will simply allow the Government to increase tuition fees. I am calling on all MPs - including Lib Dems - to vote against this increase,' he said.
Labour were pushing for a longer debate in the hope that more Lib Dems will revolt if it is drawn out.
Dr Cable yesterday issued three more concessions to try and ease jitters on the backbenches.
The salary threshold at which graduates start to repay fees will be reassessed each year in line with earnings from 2016 - not just every five years, as had been planned.
The existing £15,000 minimum earnings repayment level will also be linked to inflation from 2012, and part-time students will be able to qualify for student loans if they study for a quarter of the year, rather than having to study for a third as planned.
It has emerged that student leaders proposed £4.2billion in cuts over four years to support for poorer undergraduates, teching funds and research grants in a bid to avoid higher fees.
They e-mailed Dr Cable in October when he was drawing up his response to the Browne report on higher education funding, arguing funding cuts could avoid the need for a fee rise.
A coalition source said it was 'astonishing' that the NUS was opposing the increase when its leaders were ready to contemplate 'drastic' cuts in grants for existing students.
Blue line: Police officers standing across the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace this afternoon
Demonstrators confronting police officers outside the Houses of Parliament
dailymail.co.uk
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