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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Mark Smith and Mark Tran

Police arrest protesters at march against scrapping of student grants

Video from Sky News shows scuffles breaking out between student protesters and riot police on Victoria street in central London on Wednesday

Summary

We’re closing the blog now. Thanks for reading. Here’s an early version of the full story, written by Josh Halliday, that will be on the site very shortly:

Protesters have clashed with police as thousands of students marched through central London in a rally calling for free education, with some activists throwing smoke bombs and targeting government buildings.

At least 12 demonstrators, who were calling for the end of fees, the return of maintenance grants and an end to student debt, were arrested following scuffles with police along the route.

Dozens of officers from the Metropolitan police territorial support group moved in and clashed with some demonstrators clad in black and with scarves covering their faces.

Some let off flares and one was thrown towards police. A small number of activists attempt to break into the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) building.

Scotland Yard said: “A small group of protesters” had thrown paint outside the Home Office and “another group attempted to push their way into the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills building but were prevented by police.

“During this spell, a small number of smoke bombs and eggs were thrown at police outside BIS. A cordon was put in place across Victoria Street to prevent disorder. There was no containment in place. Officers have made a number of arrests for public order offences.”

A further day of action has been called on 17 November, focused on the treatment of international students, migrants and refugees.

Students’ unions have started the process of calling a national ballot for strike action against cuts to maintenance grants and student support. Any strike action would take place in early February, with warnings of blockades and occupations.

Earlier, the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, accused the government of betraying students as he addressed the crowd. He was greeted with cheers as he climbed up a small platform to address the students through a megaphone.

He said: “Your generation has been betrayed by this government in increases to tuition fees, in scrapping the education maintenance allowance and cuts in education. Education is a gift from one generation to another, it is not a commodity to be bought and sold.

This vine appears to show the remaining protesters being escorted to Charing Cross station, near Trafalgar Square.

Students lie in the road after the demonstration to protest against cuts to grants in central London.
Students lie in the road after the demonstration to protest against cuts to grants in central London. Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

Police confirm 12 arrests for 'public order offences'

An updated statement from the Met police has said 12 people have been arrested so far for offences relating to the student grant protests. Though it is not clear whether this number includes the recent reports of arrests at St James’s Street.

I think this number will rise.

Other Twitter reports back up the Met police’s claim not to have used full “kettling” tactics, but instead a cordon that blocked protesters from moving in one direction, without preventing them from moving in the other.

This distinction is important given the controversy of Scotland Yard’s use of kettling to deal with previous protests, particularly the G20 demonstrations in 2009.

The tactic has proved controversial, partly due to the fact that it can pen-in ordinary bystanders as well as protesters, as well as prove an antagonising move in otherwise peaceful protests.

Reports of more arrests at St James's Street

There are unverified reports of more arrests being made at St James’s Street, where police appear to be moving on the hardcore group of protesters known as the “black bloc”.

This vine from the scene offers a sense of the noise and chaos that the previously peaceful demonstration has descended to.

Here’s the latest pictures, from journalist Ned Donovan, of the remnants of the protest on St James’s Street, where police appear to be “corralling” people in an effort to get them to leave.

Updated

One Twitter user, @externalghost, casts doubt on the Met’s denial of using kettling, or containment, tactics, claiming she witnessed it when after the scuffles broke out.

Today will not be the last day of pressure on the government’s education policy. A further day of action has been called for 17 November focused on the treatment of international students, migrants and refugees, the Press Association reports.

Students’ unions have also started the process of calling a national ballot for strike action against cuts to maintenance grants and student support.

Any strike action would take place in early February, with warnings of blockades and occupations.

Deborah Hermanns, from the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, said: “We know that the fight for free education doesn’t end at the end of this demonstration.

“We are not just marching for one day and for the abolition of fees. We are building a movement which can strike to win, just as other movements all over the world have won.”

A protestor holds a flare as night falls on the student grant protest in central London.
A protestor holds a flare as night falls on the student grant protest in central London. Photograph: Rob Stothard/Getty Images

A minority of protesters have been cordoned off on St James’s Street, which is across St James’s Park from Victoria station on the way towards Piccadilly Circus and London’s central shopping district.

Jessica Elgot says some protesters are intending to head to the police station where those arrested were taken.

Jessica Elgot reports that Victoria Road is quiet and there’s no sign of any police following the arrests made on Vauxhall Bridge Road.

The official NCAFC Twitter account also saying “it’s over”.

Damien Gayle has emailed in this photograph of a paint-spattered police officer taken on Vauxhall Bridge Road, near Wilton Street SW1, about half an hour ago, just after the group of protesters were arrested.

Paint-throwing and egg-hurling were among the activities mentioned in the police statement about why arrests were made.

Police with paint spattered uniforms on Vauxhall Bridge Road.
Police with paint spattered uniforms on Vauxhall Bridge Road. Photograph: Damien Gayle for the Guardian

Updated

Met police confirms arrests made

The Metropolitan police has just tweeted this statement confirming that “a number” of arrests had been made – without saying how many.

The arrests were made after protesters threw paint and attempted to gain entry to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

However, the force is denying that “containment” – or kettling – was used on Victoria Street.

The statement said:

Shortly after 15:10hrs today, Wednesday, 4 November, a small group of protesters threw paint outside the Home Office and another group attempted to push their way into the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BiS) building but were prevented by police.

During this spell, a small number of smoke bombs and eggs were thrown at police outside BIS.

A cordon was put in place across Victoria Street at the junction with Dacre Street, SW1 to prevent disorder. There was no containment in place.

Officers have made a number of arrests for public order offences.

Updated

A man is detained by police in Victoria, central London
A man is detained by police in Victoria, central London, during the protest calling for the abolition of tuition fees and an end to student debt. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Police are telling protesters that the “official demonstration” is over, according to a legal observer who spoke to Damien. They are warning anyone who stays on the streets they might get kettled.

Groups then dispersed in all directions. I’m on Vauxhall Bridge Road and vans are still coming down here in the direction of the river.

Updated

There’s a changing of the guard on this Guardian liveblog, as Jessica Elgot heads out to relieve Damien Gayle on the ground, and I am snatching the blogging chair from Mark Tran.

The best way to contact Jess and I with reports/photos/video of what’s happening on the ground is via Twitter, either @jessicaelgot or @marksmith174. Or you can email me at mark.smith@theguardian.com.

There are reports of arrests on Gillingham Street.

The kerfuffle started when hundreds of protesters burst through the police lines and ran down Victoria Street, cheering and waving flags, reports PA. Dozens of police officers gave chase down the road as the marchers darted through central London. As they ran, protesters chanted: “What do we want? Free education. When do we want it? Now.”

It’s definitely getting lively.

There has been an arrest on Vauxhall Bridge Road.

Sky is reporting live on “scenes of chaos” outside the department as a couple of thousand police seek to maintain order. Here are some pictures of the breakout.

The Press Association has this update on scene outside the Department for Business and Skills.

The protest came to a stop outside the Department for Business Innovation and Skills when dozens of officers from the Territorial Support Group moved in. Some demonstrators clad all in black and with scarves covering their face chanted and let off a blue flare as the protest was penned in.

Those still kettled are being advised not to give out their personal details.

Protesters break out of 'kettle'

Some of the protesters have broken out of the kettle and started running down the street with the police giving chase, Damien tells me.

Updated

A policeman tells Damien that those in the kettle will be stuck for some time.

Damien Gayle has just called in to say a few thousand protesters have been kettled outside the Department for Business and Skills, with a few scuffles.

A bit of smoke during the demo.

The marchers have arrived at their destination, the Department for Business and Skills, which has responsibility for universities.

Besides shadow chancellor John McDonnell, Natalie Bennett, the leader of the Green party is also in attendance.

It’s tricky gauging numbers at demonstrations, but the organisers are saying that more than 10,000 people are attending the march.

Guido Fawkes says police think it’s only 1,000.

Here is video of shadow chancellor John McDonnell.

John McDonnell addresses protesting students

What could be the impact of scrapping maintenance grants? Gill Wyness, lecturer at UCL Institute of Education, wrote this for The Conversation website in July.

Osborne’s move could have worrying implications for equity and efficiency. While poor students may not face any increase in liquidity constraints – since they will have more cash in hand than previously – they will now graduate with more debt than those from better-off backgrounds. And debt-averse students – who are more likely to be found among the poorest groups – may be put off from applying altogether. As well as being inequitable, this could also be inefficient. The expansion of higher education over the past 30 years has helped productivity, and we need to ensure that talented students from all backgrounds participate.

Updated

Downing Street is being very well protected.

Student chants outside Downing Street.

David Cameron fucked a pig, fucked a pig, fucked a pig. David Cameron fucked a pig - and the students.

For the record, the prime minister has denied allegations made in a biography written by the former Tory donor Lord Ashcroft that he was involved in a bizarre university club ritual with a dead pig’s head.

A bit of background on maintenance grants courtesy of the BBC. The decision to scrap them was announced by chancellor George Osborne in his July budget because they had become “unaffordable”.

Currently, students from families with annual incomes of £25,000 or less get the full grant of £3,387 a year. More than half a million students in England receive a maintenance grant from the taxpayer, worth in total £1.57bn a year. Mr Osborne said the cost of this was set to double to £3bn in the next decade as the cap on student numbers was lifted...

He told the Commons: “So from 2016/17 academic year, we will replace maintenance grants with loans for new students, loans that only have to be paid back once they earn over £21,000 a year. And to ensure universities are affordable to all students from all backgrounds we will increase the maintenance loan available to £8,200, the highest amount of support ever provided.

The protests are a distraction - welcome or otherwise - for some.

This is what some of the organisers are saying about today’s march.

Shelly Asquith, vice president welfare, National Union of Students: “We are seeing unprecedented attacks on the poor and vulnerable. The student movement can be a progressive force in society, and it is our duty to take on the government’s regressive and reactionary agenda at all turns and to build a truly effective force.”

Hope Worsdale, Warwick for Free Education: “Since the election of Jeremy Corbyn, a new space for radicalism within British politics has been opened up. This did not happen by accident, and it did not happen without grassroots activists. Students will be keeping him to his promises of free education and pushing him to promote free education not just for home students but also for those from outside the UK.”

The marchers are now at Leicester Square, where they have become a tourist attraction. Their destination is the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the department responsible for universities.

Updated

Matthew Taylor has more on the background to today’s protests, which could herald a student strike early next year. Here is an extract from his full piece.

Students say the election of a Tory government and Corbyn’s subsequent victory have radicalised a new generation of students, with Labour, the Greens and smaller leftwing political groups all reporting an upturn in interest. The Labour party said thousands of new members had joined its student groups in the past few months, and a spokesperson said the number of Young Labour members had doubled to around 57,000 since the start of the year.

Deborah Hermanns, from the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, which has organised the London demonstration, said many of those now taking the lead in organising next week’s demonstration had been Corbyn campaign volunteers. “That gave them hope, a sense that things can change, and now they realise that there is a real fight going on to protect free education and help rejuvenate student politics,” she said.

The demonstration is rooted in anger at government plans to scrap the remaining maintenance grants. It will demand “free education funded through progressive taxation, and an end to the scapegoating and deportation of international students”. The march is the first in what activists hope will be a series of protests and occupations in the coming months, including a possible student strike in February next year.

It’s raining, but that’s not dampening spirits at the march.

Two anarchists tell Damien Gayle why they are at the demo.

We’re here for free education, against debt and it’s the principle. Education is a human right and grants make it more accessible. Loans mean you have to take on this debt to have access to education and that’s going to make education impossible for a lot of people. I’m lucky enough that I can study but others can’t. We’re here against this ideological battle that the Tories are waging against education they are trying to make education exclusive an that’s not right.

Anarchists at the student demo against cut in grants
Anarchists at the student demo against cut in grants. Photograph: Damien Gayle for the Guardian

The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, is there to voice support for the demonstrators.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell speaks during a protest calling for the abolition of tuition fees and an end to student debt in Westminster, London.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell speaks during a protest calling for the abolition of tuition fees and an end to student debt in Westminster, London. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

There’s time for a quick samba before the marchers set off.

The mood seems benign so far.

Deborah Hermanns, 23, from the London School of Economics, and one of the organisers of today’s protests, has been speaking to Damien Gayle.

We’re having this demonstration today because at the moment we are seeing the worst attacks on education in decades. 2010 was nothing in comparison because it’s now being attacked from many angles.

One thing is the maintenance grants and the budget obviously announced that was being capped to 1m students. In addition to the grant cuts we are seeing a lot of other changes.

For example, international students are paying higher fees, being monitored and so on and now they are being told they need to leave the country on the day that their degree finishes so they can’t even attend graduation.

Another thing is the green paper that’s likely to say that universities can increase their fees based on rankings and employment. Obviously that’s incredibly dangerous because it means that education will not be assessed on the value of learning.

Because of oppression in society a woman is going to earn less than a man, a black person is going to earn less than a white person so universities are going to want to attract the kinds of people get employed in better jobs afterwards.

Louisa Stark, a Goldsmiths student, tells Damien: “I’m demonstrating with the young greens. We’re anti cuts because it’s so hard to get an education these days and it’s really important. It should be free.”

Louisa Stark
Louisa Stark Photograph: Damien Gayle for the Guardian

Updated

Damien Gayle who is covering the student protests has sent this picture, which includes a banner taking a dig at Andrew Lloyd Webber.

student grant protests.
Young people protest against plans to scrap student grants. Photograph: Damien Gayle/Guardian

Thousands of young people are expected to take part in today’s demonstration to voice their anger at plans to scrap student grants and what they say is the government’s concerted attack on free education. Follow the day’s protests on our live blog. My colleague, Damien Gayle, will be providing updates from the scene, while Matthew Taylor explains what’s at stake.

Organisers say up to 10,000 young people from campuses around the country are expected to march through central London - rallying outside the Department for Business and Skills at 4pm. The main focus is chancellor George Osborne’s plans to scrap the remaining system of student grants, with students claiming that will deter young people from low-income families from going to university.

But the concerns of those taking part run much deeper than that: at stake is the structure and purpose of higher education in the UK. They see a raft of government policies - including the mooted introduction of variable fees - as a big step towards a privatised university system.

Deborah Hermanns from the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, which organised today’s demonstration, said:

”It is based on an ideological commitment to fully privatising higher education. It is this vision for a fully-blown market that the government is now pursuing, and it is doing it through a maze of new acronyms and regulatory frameworks designed to make its plans unintelligible to most of the public.”

Those involved hope today’s march - which will be addressed by shadow chancellor John McDonnell - will herald the start of a new wave of student activism inspired, in part, by Jeremy Corbyn’s election as Labour leader. Hermanns said students and young people had been invigorated by Corbyn’s success and were determined to build on it.

”We must be clear that the government does not care about the relatively tiny sums saved by the conversion of maintenance grants to loans... This is an ideological attack on our education system and it needs to be taken on by a political movement with a vision of its own.”

Updated

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