The vote to triple University tuition fees came in with a majority of 21 in the House of Commons at around 5:35pm late yesterday afternoon, but the unrest had started way before then outside Westminster. Protest organisers and the Met Police had agreed to a designated route for demonstrators through the capital, many stuck to the route, many did not and this is when it kicked off!
Benches were set alight, the statue of Winston Churchill vandalised, windows smashed, rocks, wooden missiles, and snooker balls thrown, as-well-as fences uprooted and thrust toward lines of Policeman. And the Police are to be blame? Shame on you. The complaint coming from young demonstrators caught out is that Officers were heavy handed and attacked first. Not from what I saw, and I was watching the live coverage on 3 different news channel, the aerial view from the news-copter exposes students as the aggressors trying to push through Police barriers and relentlessly hurling objects toward reinforced lines and the cavalry.
I can understand their frustration - I was lucky to escape any hike in fees whilst I was at University - but acts of violence will not bring about change. Without question the Governments proposals are controversial and unfair for thousands across the country, but that doesn't give people the right to violent protest, peaceful, loud and vocal protest yes, but never violent. They're lucky no one was seriously injured yesterday.Malcom X and the Black Panthers struggled to bring about cultural change during the civil rights movement in the US with their aggressive tactics. Martin Luther King on the other hand exercised great patience in his quest to change a nation ....... Who was more successful? Dr King.
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