A few thoughts in response to Cameron's article in the Evening Standard

I spent the day out on the streets of London today.

I'm not a student myself anymore but I had a day free from work at last so I thought I'd take the opportunity to show some solidarity with the schoolkids and students. 

I have to say I was impressed. Despite the snowstorm and freezing winds blowing through us, people were still out and about. They managed to avoid being kettled in the beginning and just kept moving, with a trail of coppers running after them looking like they might have heart attacks at any moment form all the exertion.

As I was leaving at the end of the day, I picked up a copy of the ES to see how the corporate media were going to portray us today. I got to page 14 and found Cameron's latest piece of smug, patronizing drivel.

NEWS ALERT!!  We've all got it wrong apparently. No need to panic, we've all got it wrong and if we read the small print on the government's plans we'll realise that nobody's going to have to pay anything when they are actually at university.

Welcome to the land of doublethink, Orwell would be proud.

Fact no 1) Changes to higher education funding are unavoidable

Apparently that's a fact, no argument possible. Never mind that £120 billion worth of taxes went uncollected or avoided by our richest citizens last year. We wouldn't want to ask the government's best friend Philip Green to contribute, better let Monaco host his millions as a tax exile.

So, we've got to make cuts:

Funding for teaching costs for English higher education this year stand at 5 billion. Their solution apparently is to cut all government funding for arts and humanities, that'll solve the problem.

Fact no 2) Introducing market values into the education system will drive up standards.

If all the funding comes from students then universities will have to compete to attract them and so will improve their standards of teaching, research and facilities to attract students.
This is the great myth so beloved by conservatives.

Thatcher started it in the NHS in the 80s and I can see the disastrous effects now as I try and work in the health service. NHS hospitals now have to compete with private companies to provide services which are bought by primary care trusts. What happens is that the private companies win all the nice, money-making contracts eg to provide cataract operations, hip replacements, hernia repairs etc. The NHS hospitals instead win the right to look after the frail and elderly who need weeks of care and rehabilitation for which PCTs pay pittance. In addition when Mrs X (86) has her hip operation by the BUPA hospital and then strangely enough develops complications because 86 yr old ladies don't respond well to general anaesthetics and surgical operations, she gets shipped down the road to the NHS hospital to sort her out. 

(sorry, medical rant over)

Anyway, if universities have to compete with each other that will not necessarily drive up standards. Oxbridge may be able to compete but unis who depend on government help are not going to be able improve themselves overnight to attract students. Who's going to cover the first 5 years it takes to make any changes. Never mind, who cares if a few local unis get shut down?

Then what about subjects that are economically unpopular? Who's going to give you a job for getting a degree in ancient history or music or classics or zoology in today's economic climate?
Answer: cut these courses

Fact no 3) The government's plans are fair!

When you got to university from now onwards you won't have to pay the £9000+ a year up-front. You won't need to pay it back until you earn more than £21000/year. Therefore nobody should be discouraged.

There's a fundamental lack of understanding of what it means to be in debt here. They simply can't seem to understand why the prospect of leaving university with an average debt of > £35,000 would put some people off. I guess when you've never had to worry about money, when you've never owed anyone money, remember 18 members of the cabinet are millionaires at the moment, you can't understand why you would be worried about owing money to the bank, or the student loan company or whoever it is is going to provide the loans, a point they haven't made clear yet.

People are going to be put off, schoolkids all around me today were telling me they have been put off.

This is the propaganda that is being put out everyday
We need to challenge it at every opportunity.


Next time the students come out on the streets and stand in front of lines and lines of riot cops, every person out there who has benefited from a state-sponsored education owes it to them to stand right beside them.

more than 1300 people came from all over the country to yesterday's COALITION OF RESISTANCE (CoR) conference at the camden centre. it is clear that students have kick-started a game-changing new era in british politics and there is a real sense that the cuts can be defeated and a new order may just be possible. my only reservations are about the inevitable manouevreings of the old left who hope to gain power and control out of the current troubles. i offer a report on the parts of the conference i saw, and in my comment at the end, a few thoughts and observations about the role of anarchism in this movement.

INTRODUCTION

the conference was so over-subscribed that organisers were caught out, and contingency plans had to be hurriedly put together to cope with the massive attendance.

the main hall was overflowing for the original opening plenary, with addresses from politicians, union officials. students, and others. as the situation became untenable, some of the speakers agreed to address groups in other rooms and in the school opposite the camden centre.

YOUTH, STUDENTS & EDUCATION WORKSHOP

i attended the 'youth, students and education' workshop, which was one of six taking place in various parts of the two buildings.

after introductions, the workshop was addressed first by 'kieran' a 6th form student from westminster kingsway college. he told us he felt emancipated by last wednesday's protest, despite being kettled for hours in the cold by police. the experience had broken down many misconceptions about protests for him, and he realised that protest was not just for peaceniks, eccentrics, single-issue groups, or indeed anarchists.

he spoke about the importance of the education maintenance allowance (EMA) which the government intends to scrap. this allowance helps under-privileged people to attend courses because it provides help for fares and lunch money. he defended the right to protest in any way necessary, and spoke of the violence of the tory cuts on the lives of the poorest and dispossessed.

he told us how students had suddenly become very politically engaged, and told of how councillors had been invited to a meeting at the college and that 120 students turned up. also that students were making links with unions and how he had accompanied a group of students on a visit to speak to train drivers at euston.

finally, he acknowledged the role of new media like facebook and twitter in the planning and organisation of effectively leaderless protests, something which the authorities were finding hard to keep up with.

next on the mic was alex kenny, speaking for the 'socialist teachers alliance'. he admired the fact that the students had lit a beacon and had exploded the myth that they were apolitical.

he also spoke with deep concern about the way that michael gove had used seldom-used and undemocratic parliamentary processes to avoid all discussion of his announcement to allow schools to break away from councils and be set up by almost anyone. this, alex warned, will deepen privatisation of education and destroy local authority influence. he said that this is not just a fight about fees, or about the accountability of the new 'academies', but that all these issues and more are linked. he described it as a capitalist-led assault on education, because an idle but well-educated population is a dangerous one to the rich and powerful.

jean-baptiste tondu spoke about the french student struggle and talked of the importance of solidarity, not just between students internationally, but also between students, unions, workers and the unemployed. he made the point that student occupations don't directly affect the economy (although he forgot to mention the sometimes acute problem to the personal economy of precarity-paid part-time teaching staff), but that worker's strikes and occupations do.

'barnaby' then spoke as a school student against the cuts. he was an inspiration - clearly from a privileged background and a pupil at the 'westminster school', he had a great grasp of oratory, and an even clearer analysis of the current system. he was funny too, speaking of the kettled protests last week and telling us he'd learnt what a university education was for - "to stop us from ending up in a police uniform". he also said that students in the kettle realised that they were not being held because of any threat to the public, but as a punishment designed to stop them from coming again, but that this realisation had given them an even greater motive to resist, organise and protest.

barnaby said that students were no longer a 'post-ideological generation', and that they were not just angry about fees and EMA but were joining the dots. as an example he told how hundreds of students had just signed up to a facebook group to support the RMT union.

the chair, 'clare solomon' from london NUS, and a socialist, then opened up the workshop to the floor, and a string of people came to the microphone suggesting proposals for the conference.

a student from leeds described that more than 3000 protestors had come out there on wednesday, and that 7 colleges or universities were occupied, a leeds-wide general assembly was forming to include students, unions and other groups, and that there was a plan to surround banks in future protests.

a young NUT member spoke of the new white paper on education and described it as devastating. she mentioned in horror the idea of bringing newly-returned troops from the front line into teaching "to instil discipline in the classroom"! she also said there was a big fight looming over teacher's pensions, and that it was so important to link and promote solidarity between students and teachers at this early stage.

this call was taken up by a UCU activist from yourkshire who said it was imperative that the teachers support and come out nationwide to back the students. he realised that teacher's unions were scared by thatcher's anti-union laws, but that if they all walk out together they would be safe and that the union executives must be given the confidence to let that happen.

another UCL/UCU activist took this point further, saying the moment was critical, that staff are inspired by the students but that more pressure was needed and so a walk-out by teachers was a priority. he called for the UCU and NUT executives to join the students.

the next speaker from the more revolutionary 'national campaign against fees cuts' (NCAFC) said that the student protests were a game changer, and that they were making history.

speaking about millbank, he pointed out that looking back, no-one nowadays condems the poll tax rioters, and that millbank would be seen in the same light in years to come. he warned of the manouevring of some left-wing groups, and called for general assemblies to be built from 'education assemblies' formed during a total education strike.

picking up on the condemnation of protestors, a further education lecturer spoke about the real violence of a million unemployed and said millbank was just but a drop compared to this.

a retired teacher from birmingham told of her years working with children in care. she said that the EMA was absolutely vital and was the only way in which any of them ever managed to go into further education and improve their prospects. she also warned that the new academies would take money away from local authority schools and accountability away from local control.

alex kenny then mentioned two more cuts proposed. first, that the guaranteed right of under five-year-olds to qualified teachers was being removed. and second, that the £160 million school sports fund was being completely cut. however, on a positive note he said that PE teachers, parents and sports celebrities had already built a 20,000 strong facebook group and that their lobbying and pressure was apparently splitting the cabinet over this issue.

returning once more to the importance and power of solidarity, a student from SOAS told how the university authorities had backed down from using bailiffs against the occupation once academics became involved to support the students, and staff had demanded negotiation rather than repression.

she also reported how students had formed assembies to make decisions about future protests and that anyone could get involved, with birkbeck college hosting a national student assembly this afternoon, and a london assembly from 5pm.

ALTERNATIVES TO THE CRISIS

after a short lunch break, six more workshops took place, and i decided to attend 'alternatives to the crisis' which took place in the school canteen over the road. this was a large room overflowing with a couple of hundred people.

the first speaker, ozlem onaran, a senior economics lecturer and researcher, spoke about the simple alternatives to cuts available to the government.

first, make those responsible for the crisis pay! tax the corporations, tax financial trading, and close tax loopholes.

next, stop the war, a huge drain on public economy for an ill-defined and unwinnable purpose.

finally, cut the trident nuclear weapon programme, a useless deterrent in a time of assymetrical warfare.

she spoke about the illegitimacy of the current debt, and how public finance could be freed from the burden of debt if the debt were audited openly, and then paid off by those that owed it. this process would inevitably lead to the bankcruptcy of the banks, so that they could be properly nationalised under the control of workers and local assemblies.

she also said we must look at the bigger picture. that continuing economic growth is simply an unsustainable premise from a climate justice and ecological viewpoint. without growth, people would have to lessen their working weeks, but that the liberated time could be put to use by involvement in truly democratic processes to decide openly how money could be freed up.

next on the mic was richard bremmer. he is the author of 'credit crunch - the crisis is capitalism'. he described how as the rate of return goes down at the end of each economic cycle, the controllers find ways to destroy and shed the less productive parts of the system. this is what is happening in the current 'credit crunch'. his suggestion was that the only alternative to capitalism is communism. i kind of lost concentration for a while then.

the third speaker was john hilary from 'war on want'.

he told us that the idea that there is no alternative to cuts is in fact a huge media con. the cuts are a political and ideological choice, and in fact there are many and varied ways to ease the debt outside of the kneejerk keynesian paradigm.

as a first example, he gave us the estimated figures for lost, unpaid or missing corporation tax. the combination of tax avoidance, tax loopholes and havens, and the amounts simply owed but discounted by inland revenue (including the recent disclosures about vodaphone for instance), add up to a staggering £120 billion. just half that amount would completley plug the current crisis.

on the subject of tax havens he pointed out that a large proportion of them are british dependencies.

however, instead of tackling this huge corporate avoidance of tax, the current government is actually closing tax offices as part of the cuts.

again, the meeting was opened up to the floor, but while a lot of good points were made, there seemed to be an unchallenged consensus that the 'only alternative' is socialism or communism. i got a little depressed by this having read 'animal farm', and went off for a cup of fairtrade coffee.

FINAL SESSION, NOMINATIONS, DECLARATION & CLOSING SPEECHES

the final session brought everyone back into the main hall, which was packed to overflowing, with people left standing in the two large balconies as well as in the main downstairs area.

paul mackney (a retired teacher's union leader and socialist labour activist) announced that there had been 122 nominations for the coalition of resistance national council, and andrew burgin (a socialist bookseller and prominent figure in the 'stop the war coalition') added that 37% of the nominees were women. he said that the coalition's 'declaration of purpose' had had dozens of suggested amendments, but rather than go through them all that afternoon, he asked the floor to remit them and trust the steering committee to consider them all in due course.

the chair then announced tony benn (notorious socialist labourite and president of the 'stop the war coalition') the president of the coalition. perhaps i missed the vote for this, but whatever, it seemed to receive an overwhelmingly positive response and standing ovation for the 88 year old activist.

the coalition, while supporting the students' struggle in words, seems more concerned in building a mass movement leading to a national march next year on 26th march.

a pensions campaigner, dot gibson, said that the march should be against ALL cuts, reminding us that the labour party had consistently stated that some cuts were necessary.

she reminisced about how in 1945, the labour welfare programme arose form a desire not to return to pre-war unemployment, and offered a genuine hope of free education and health to all. she contrasted those times with now, and the fact that her grandchildren have no idea whether they will be able to get jobs or whether they will be able to afford a home.

she complained that while the welfare state was formed in a principle of universalism, it had always been compromised by the existence of a mixed economy, with as just one example, the pharmaceutical industry making vast profits from the health service. over the years, the private sector was always waiting in the wings to profit from or take over the public sector, and currently private companies have over £100 billion worth of contracts within public sector, directly profiting from public money.

next chris banbury (socialist worker, union steward, and 'right to work' campaigner) called for total unity. in an impassioned speech which got the hall cheering, he said the time for games was over, and he called for everyone to be on the streets next tuesday, but recognising the difficulties faced by unions given thatcher's laws, he suggested they do this in their lunchtime so they didn't get into trouble.

lee jasper ('black activist rising against cuts' BARAC) called the cuts a declaration of class war. with cuts to public services he predicted a rise in racism, with the EDL and NF already brushing up their beguiling arguments to blame immigrants for the pain. he called for us all to stand in anti-racist unity against the cuts.

alf filer (business lecturer and socialist) then asked for large donations of money for the coalition to continue its campaign. in a remarkably honest declaration of intent he said the coalition wanted to build a real alternative to the current political parties - he asked for notes rather than coins, and standing orders rather than one-off payments.

jeremy corbyn (labour socialist MP) referred to naomi klein's book 'the shock doctrine' which outlines the process of debt slavery applied in the third world, where welfare was destroyed and blanket privatisation installed, leading to tiny minorities of unfeasably rich people and vast numbers of dispossessed poor in abject conditions.

he compared that process to the methods used once again by the IMF, the world bank, and now including the european central bank, this time against european countries, starting with greece and ireland, and now the UK. he said that while the poorest are faced with swingeing cuts, money is being invested on a colossal scale in new nuclear weapons and military funding for unwinnable wars.

he spoke of the history of attempts by the central banks to apply the process in latin america, and noted that in the countries where the people fought back, some gains were made, resistance built, and progressive governments resulted.

he called on people to defend the absolute principles of welfare (free education and free healthcare).

he said there was a major debate on fees cuts this week in parliament, and a final vote before christmas, and he reported that parliament has been rattled by the scale and intensity of the students' fightback. he made the observation that if we could win on student fees, it would show the possibility of fighting and winning against ALL the cuts.

john rees (CoR founding member, socialist activist, and 'stop the war coalition' national officer) said he didn't want to be told by 'eton boys' that 'you can be a hairdresser, but you can't be an artist or a philosopher'. he commented that cameron had wanted 'the big society' - looking round the hall he said 'well this is it, and we're coming to get you'. he promised that the colaition would bring down this government.

rapper 'lowkey' then took the mic and supported corbyn's observations about the 'shock doctrine'. he suggested the current politicians who had received free education should all pay £9000 back for the free education they'd had.

on nick clegg's reversal of promises, he reminded us that before the election clegg had called for an arms embargo on israel, but that last week the liberal democrat had made a speech in which he said maybe he'd been wrong about israel. lowkey wanted to tie the struggle over cuts with the ongoing war in afghanistan and the problems in the middle east.

he ended with a quote from frederick douglas that "power concedes nothing without demand, so we must always demand demand demand demand demand".

kate hudson (CND) reminded us of the huge costs of nuclear programmes and asked in whose interests our economy is currently run. she asked whether it was for the majority who use it, or for the minority that run it.

tony benn (new president of CoR) spoke about how he remembered (he's 88 you know) the time when the welfare state was being built after the war. he described current cuts as possibly the biggest attack yet.

he reminded us of the principle of universality that inspired the welfare state, and of the importance of solidarity in the struggle. the role of the coalition, he said, was not just to resist, but also to educate.

he said that lies are told to excuse the dismantling of the welfare state, to turn the banker's crisis into a broader economic crisis, and to make working people pay for the mistakes and greed of the ruling classes.

he agreed with kate hudson that the first economy should be the dropping of the trident replacement, and he reminded us that in 1945, the highest tax level affecting the richest in a time of crisis was 95%. he said the country needed the money then, and it was fair that everyone should share the burden.

he finished by saying it was a great honour to be the president of the coalition and that he was at the coalition's disposal at all times.


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PERSONAL COMMENT ON THE CONFERENCE

so there we are, the birth of a new national movement.

at a time when we need people to come together to fight a government controlled by the evidently psychopathic interests of big business and financiers, i don't like to be unhelpfully cynical or suspicious, but after seeing a welcome, unexpected and possibly "game-changing" surge of resistance and activism from young people on city streets throughout the nation, i have some concerns about the appearance of the 'coalition of resistance' and its direction, structure, and motives.

so many of the organisers and speakers have unashamed affiliation with socialist worker roots, that their claim to be a broad alliance has to be questioned. this, along with their undisguised aspiration to bring down the government and seize power, does little to inspire me with confidence.

additionally, many of the leading lights are the same people who ran the 'stop the war coalition'. this organisation, despite poll-backing by a majority of the british people and a mobilisation of millions on the street, conspicuously failed to stop the war.

they have since steadily disempowered the british public with their traditional and soul-destroying tactics of 'A to B' marching, to the extent that recently only 3000 turned up to an anti-afghanistan war rally despite the fact that pollsters regularly find that upwards of 70% of the british public want the troops home.

their president, tony benn, who is now the president of the 'coalition of resistance', has privately admitted that he didn't push for a criminal investigation of blair et al, because one of the "al" might well be his own son, hilary. well, i guess that blood is thicker than justice.

i think the real problem with both coalitions was alluded to by chris banbury at the conference when he called  for a national stoppage next tuesday, but only in the lunch hour so as not to break any laws.

so why don't these socialists support civil disobedience?

the answer lies in their real agenda, a seizure of power within the current pseudo-democratic system, and the installation of a socialist government while leaving the structure of power and control in place.

if they were to advocate the civil disobedience that might be truly necessary in the face of the devastating declaration of ideological war that the con-dem government has instigated, then they would lose the establishment legitimacy that, in order to seize power, they need to retain.

having said that, i don't want this piece to come over as a typically futile indymedia 'more ideologically pure than thou' anarchist diatribe against the socialist worker party.

if you believe in the 'animal farm'/"whoever you vote for, the government gets in" critique of socialism, then now, more than ever is the moment for anarchists to engage with unions, students, pensioners, unemployed and under-privileged people and educate, inform and inspire. there was no reason why there could not have been an anarchist presence in every one of the workshops at this conference. the anarchists can't blame the socialists for their lack of engagement.

with so many new activists seeking solutions, inspiration and ideas, it is a shame to allow the same tired traditionalists to hijack and dampen the creative, passionate exuberance of the students and other street protestors. now is the time to get out there to student assemblies and anti-cuts groups and teach them about non-hierarchical co-operation, syndicalism, truly participatory democracy, and consensus.

the students want free education - get out there and give it to them!

This is not an exhaustive report. There were so many of us and everyone has their story to tell (why don't you tell your story?). So basically, they want to take away the right to education, and we won't let them. It was brilliant seeing all those people turn out, 13, 14 year old school kids amongst them. We started off at ULU. Everyone's really angry. How do those who got an education get to mess it up for us and decide that we can't have one? We can't even vote, though what good is that if they just lie to you anyway? Just like what on BBC and Sky. You'd think they went to a whole different event. But great spirits, lots of energy. We pass a bunch of unis and the march keeps getting bigger. At Trafalgar Square, suddenly it's not 50 people anymore it's 5000! Read what happened next...

Another report: part 1, 2, 3 and why it isn't over yet...

We're passing Trafalgar Square and head down Whitehall. And suddenly the march is stopped and we can't go anywhere. And Whitehall, there's no sidestreets. They didn't ask us to disperse, but even if they would have, we couldn't. There's no sidestreets. So they set up a "kettle", cops and vans and horses at either end. And we're stuck. First it's still fun, everyone is in great spirits, it's like a big party. You meet people, everyone's having a laugh. People are pretty angry and take apart a lot of stuff. Busstops, even bruning ticket machines. They explode in a weird way. I don't even know how you can set something like that on fire. There's this police van left behind in the middle of the crowd, so that's totally taken appart. I hear some people got arrested for theft later, after they found some police equipment on them. Really those people might just have picked it up from the streets.

But it really wears down after a while. It's getting really cold, you can't move about much. There's no food, no drinks. No loos. Some people took a piss right in front of police lines, others set up improvised loos in phone booths and with banners. There's fires being started all over the place, usind placards, newspapers, everything. Those plastic barricades, and man those stink. A few times people try and get out. Pushing through the lines. And police is totally vicious. People are so tightly packed in that there's nowhere to go, but the cops just lash out and hit anything that moves.I hear some people broke out and went up to Trafalgar, would be great to hear something about that.

There's also cops with big cameras and small ones that you hardly notice. Some coppers had ones on their hats, filming everything, but you didn't really see them at first. There's a campaign to stop them and after the Millbank thing, they had their website taken down.After Millbank they started arresting people later on. There's some advice on the net for going to protests. Seems like it's a whole science of it's on, if you don't want to get hassled for it.

So basically if you want to take part in a protest in this "democracy", they should give you a warning before: "Prepare to be clubbed on the head and held in an outdoors prison for hours on end. You gotta bring enough warm cloths to not get cold, also food and water. Because if we catch you in one of out cattle pens, we're not going to feed you or anything. You better don't have a bladder either, because we're not gonna let you go to the loo. Oh, and you may get arrested for being in the wrong spot at the wrong place. And we're going to take pictures and video you, so we can find out who you are later on. But yeah, you're totally free to protest. As long as you don't mind all of the above."

So everyone, what are we going to do next time? We can't let  them get away with this kinda behaviour! Maybe that's why they don't want us to get an education. Because we might learn about what democracy means. And speak up about the bullshit that's currently happening in this country. With the banks being bailed out, and corportations getting huge tax breaks, the rich ones get huge bonuses and whatnot and everyone else gets fucked. We need something better! Some real democracy, and some way to organise society so everyone can have a good life, good education, a decent job and most of all everyone can have a say!

as night fell, police used mounted police to charge crowds containing children and peaceful protestors. more arbitrary cordons led to scuffles, and a few by now very angry protestors stopped some traffic and broke a couple of windows. those kettled were gradually let out, some having spent ten hours imprisoned.

with thousands kettled and the night drawing in, protestors lit fires to stay warm. some took their frustration out on police lines, but interestingly, many of the students stopped others from committing acts of violence. i saw one group pushing back an attempt to use some fencing as a battering ram, and the angrier demonstrators were disarmed.

once again, new people arrived outside the kettle, and police brought in even more massive reinforcements to begin an operation to clear whitehall by pushing people up the road away from the kettles.

the kettles themselves still contained thousands of people, and as the cold set in, more fires were started. many of those held had been there for more than eight hours by now, and there were a few concerted attempts to break through police lines and at one point about a hundred made a successful breach and got away.

the operation to clear whitehall became quite violent as lines of riot police pushed forward, knocking people off walls, occasionally using batons, and pushing anyone infront of them, including press. the police lines were aided by a dozen mounted police, who on occasion charged their horses directly into the crowd. as people scattered in panic, it was pure luck that no-one appeared to be trampled or otherwise injured.

as the crowd neared trafagar square it was clear yet another line of police were coming the other way, and to avoid yet another kettle, some charged through, and others also escaped down great scotland yard.

once free in trafalgar square, some went on the rampage, pulling bins and other debris across the road, and unaccountably smashing a couple of bus windows on their way.

one group of about 50 people was surrounded in duncannon street near the strand, and one photographer was pushed over by a bullying transport police inspector. as people surrounded this cordon, tension rose, and more riot police arrived and pushed people away from the cordon. there were a couple of attempts at a sit-down protest on the strand, but police waded in, drew batons, and very forcibly cleared the road.

back at parliament square, by 9pm police had pushed the original kettle further up the road, and on the far side were letting people out in small numbers at a time, sometimes, though not always, taking details as people left.

press were not allowed past police lines, and police were anxious to clear loiterers out of whitehall.

overall, there were several key moments to the day.

first, police stopped a march that had been publicised as going to parliament square, then kettled thousands of people, some of whom were not part of the protest, and most of whom were peaceful.
next, police started pushing into the crowd, provoking a response, and then there was the mysterious single abandoned police van.
then, the sinister and arbitrary sweep for young people in the area, some of whom were clearly not involved, but who were then detained for hours.
finally, dangerous use of mounted police charging into crowds that contained children.

after G20, for an all too short while, police attitudes to protest improved, at least in front of cameras, but after the equally orchestrated events at millbank recently, the police have found an excuse to behave dangerously, provocatively, and repressively.

however, there were two very positive things that emerged from the day. first, the students demonstrated all over the country and are clearly not going to back down over the cuts despite this repression. second, the public and passers-by showed tremendous support for the students, see it as part of a much wider struggle against a further deep attack by the rich against the poor, and showed genuine horror and disgust at the police repression of wholly legitimate protests against an illegitimate government out of control.

police trawled through trafalgar square and whitehall rounding up any youngsters, including children (many of whom showed no signs of being part of the protest), and forcing them into a kettle where they were then imprisoned for hours.

at around 3pm, i spotted a line of around 80 police standing in front of the national gallery at the top of trafalgar square.

this was odd because in the square there were very few people and only half a dozen students with a banner.

suddenly the police line swept down picking up anyone who looked like they might be a student, or indeed a school child.

pushing them down to the top of whitehall, police forced the youngsters down the road, and once in whitehall it was then even easier for so many police to completely seal the road.

they stopped outside mcdonalds and went in, again zeroing in on anyone that looked "young", hauling them out and telling them to walk down whitehall towards the kettled crowd.

many argued, saying they wanted to get to the train station or to get home. many of them were under 18. many asked why they were being told to leave mcdonalds and move towards the obvious trouble, but police just told them to move.

many passers-by were appalled and shouting at the police about their actions.

i asked police what law they were using, and they said they didn't know. i asked if they were targetting people that looked like students and they said 'that's right'.

some of the children were clearly confused and terrified by this police operation, and most were not actively protesting when targetted - indeed some were clearly just in the vicinity with no connection to the day's demonstrations.

see attached short vid clip above.

still, the kids were pushed all the way down towards downing street, and the police lines were also joined and reinforced by mounted.

around the area of downing street, there was quite a large crowd outside the earlier main police kettle (they had clearly arrived later and were hoping to join the publicised march to parliament square). when they saw the youngsters coming towards them with lines of police and horses behind, they panicked and tried to run through the gardens of the ministry of defence and over spiked fencing. a couple fell and i saw one painful injury.

police soon secured the escape route, and then kept pushing the new kettle towards the original one past the cenotaph.

as this kettle moved tighter, some officers tried to trash the tent that provides shelter for the ongoing 'white flag revolution' protest against the afghan war. luckily there was an intervention by some MoD police who knew about this protest, and the tent remained.

a couple of people trying to escape the kettle were arrested.

all those that were already in whitehall, together with the students, youngsters, children and passers-by trawled by police, were then held for several hours into darkness.

police force children out of mcdonalds and force them down whitehall into kettle where they are then held for hours. they can't explain what law they are using.

thousands of protestors were held for up to ten hours against their will for daring to protest on the streets of london. a police van left in the centre of a kettle became the focus of ire, and offered the press their iconic riot images. the question must be asked whether this was orchestrated.

as students gathered in malet st this morning, the mood was carnivalesque but defiant.

as the march set off around 11.30, it was completely surrounded by police.

meanwhile a group of school students were marching/running along millbank and through parliament square. police were finding it hard to keep up, but about a dozen vans chased through the traffic after them as they made their way up whitehall to meet the carnival at trafalgar square.

in trafalgar square, the students had taken over the base of nelson's statue, watched and documented by several FIT teams back in their blue tabards for the day.

the publicised itinery for the protests involved a rally in the square and then a march down to parliament square, followed by a further rally outside downing street at 5pm.

however, the students were impatient and decided to head down to parliament square immediately.

as they made their way swiftly down whitehall, little did they know that the police were not going to facilitate the peaceful demonstration advertised as marching to parliament square.

at the bottom of whitehall, just as it reaches parliament square, police set up a solid block and anyone that in their eyes looked vaguely like a student was simply not allowed through.

meanwhile, behind the crowd, more police were forming a kettle, and mysteriously, a solitary police van was left unwatched right in the middle of this kettle.

at the parliament square end, although the crowd was generally peaceful, their anger grew at not being allowed to pass. a few made an attempt to dismantle some work fences that formed part of the trap, and at that point riot police began pushing forward into the crowd, causing reactions and scuffles.

i witnessed the shocking sight of a police medic putting his arm through the officers in front of him and spraying a BCF halon fire extinguisher at the faces of some caught at the front of the crowd.

as the crowd realised they were being held against their will, more scuffles broke out, and the sole abandoned police van became the object of anger and was graffitied, broken into and will of course become one of the iconic news images of the day.

Part of the School for Oriental and African Studies is currently being occupied in protest against privatisation and cuts, but the dispute is getting wider. SOAS students are there, and Goldsmiths and other students are there in solidarity, but they need your help. Here's a statement of solidarity from Goldsmiths students, email goldinsolidarity@gmail.com to get more info.

National Walkout: Goldsmiths students' statement of solidarity

We, the students of Goldsmiths College, have decided supporting the SOAS occupation to show our solidarity against the proposed cuts to education. We are not just students and this is not just a contingent occupation. It is an expression of our stance against the current government's ideological agenda that will impoverish us all.

This is a peaceful movement and we continue to act peacefully. Yet those in Whitehall who were ketteled today, including thousand of high school children, and who were expressing their legitimate fear of the dissolution of their futures, have been treated like criminals. For more than 9 hours they were imprisoned by a police shield, unable to leave and without access to water, warm clothing, medical treatment and only 1 toilet cubicle for more than 3000 people. This is physical and discursive violence by the government through the instrument of the police against people's legitimate right to question the decisions of a coalition government on a weak mandate.

We have been told that due to our government's debt we, the people(s), must now forfeit rights that have historically been the foundation of society, one of which is free access to education for all. Why did the government jump to the rescue of the banks in the name of society only to then do away with the essential mechanisms that ensure the livelihoods and securities which we expect from a democratic government?

The effects of having a solution of privatisation of the university will be that the ability to access education will be determined solely by individuals' financial backgrounds. As a matter of course this will fast track those from privileged backgrounds to the most elite universities.

The governments restructuring of the education system has revealed their priority to perpetuate, enlarge and advance a logic of learning that is catered towards the economy and not society.

This is evident by the positioning of the hard sciences and certain social sciences (i.e. Economics and Law) over and above the arts/humanities and other social sciences. On what basis is the government undertaking this decision?

There has been a systemic attack on arts and humanities for not meeting research standards; for not undertaking research whose 'value' can be appraised according to a crude economic calculus. Indeed, how can arts and humanities meet these research standards when their departments across the country are overburdened with teaching hours, force fed with never-ending quantitative targets and ever coerced to tow the line for fear of their funding being cut? These aggressive measures are part of a vicious cycle that has been initiated by the government's claim to know what is worthwhile education and what is not.

While these sciences are valuable for society they are not the beating heart of innovative and creative social communities and they do not have any critical capacity to guide moral, ethical and political questions that we live within and must engage with at every level in our life.

It seems that the government is knowingly dressing down the humanities' status in favour of disciplines whose end result is net private profit, with the effect the population is coerced into financialised and managerial modes of work.

For instance, several universities are increasingly under the thumb of managerial imperatives, not democratically and academically credible leadership. This is seen in the withering power of the Universities' board of governors to keep in check C.E.O type leadership whose prime interests are solely economic.

Such regimes are becoming the norm in various sectors across society; we see this in secondary education with the changes in funding and the introduction of 'academies'; cuts in NHS funding that will lead people with no choice but to access private healthcare or even go without; the cutting of legal aid and the replacing of genuine workers' organisations with ones which are led by corporate-style figureheads whose interests are indistinguishable from the mainstream interests of political parties. Those that question the normalisation of these ideological interests are harassed and witch-hunted, such as the whistle-blowers in the NHS who have brought to light the deaths and endangerment of hundreds of patients under the auspices of mis-management.

Yet, we will not be intimidated by these developments because we have a vision for a society that is sustainable, egalitarian and perfectly viable outside the narrow terms of economics. We demand breadth and freedom of choice in education, not the baseless pitting of sciences against the humanities. We demand an education that is not underwritten by financial gain but by the sake of learning itself.

Our quest is to protect education from the neo-liberal market. We will press for the resistance, and continue our own vociferous and active resistance, of the obstruction of learning as an empowering experience. This process is being created via the rhetorical transformation of it into a commodity
'good'.

We will continue to highlight the greedy agenda of those who want to roll-out their private wealth. With this affect, they command the productive wealth of our society. We the students, refuse to accept the labels 'selfish' and 'lazy'- our actions of solidarity across generations today disproves these.

The occupation in SOAS is one of many acts by all of those who are going to be negatively affected by the cuts we are to be shackled with. The actions the government wish to effect are a few weeks away, we will remain committed to expressing our views concerning the *right* to a non-elitist, non-corporate education system before and beyond (if necessary) the coming 'act'.

We reiterate our absolute solidarity with those who have been subject to confinement-without-release within the arms of the law, for the best part of a freezing day. The expression of opposition to government should not be pre-figured as a criminal act. The police took up what is known as a 'Kettle' formation within an hour of the arrival of the protestors- thousands (yes, thousands) of whom are high school children. While the physical presence and movement of the protestors is part of the expression of their opinion, the physical presence of the police and their deeply intimidating formation marks their antipathy to such expression. The rhetoric of 'preventative' action (prevention of rioting, or damage to property) fails absolutely when one considers the intimidatory gesture of confinement within a tightly packed 'chain' of police bodies, backed with a garrison of vehicles and a reserve force of riot police. All this to ensure the 'safety' of the protestors, and the public? Such display of force is totally disproportionate. Such force is in place to silence the message of the protestors. Such force in formation seeks to contaminate the democratic message delivered through the visual mass of the protestors with the violence implied in the disproportionate strength of the police.

All of those involved in the protests today did so in defense of a society we need to reclaim from the impending cuts, a society based on community, not corporation.

In solidarity, Goldsmiths students
24th November 2010
goldinsolidarity@gmail.com

Green and Black Cross aim to support those arrested or assaulted during the protests of November 24th.

If you were arrested then please contact us ASAP. Why? We are monitoring the legal situation and trying to make sure that everyone gets the help they need.

If you witnessed an arrest, please contact us. Why? We will try to put you in touch with the solicitors of those arrested so that they can mount a defence.

If you witnessed specific police officers using unreasonable force or abusing their powers, please get in touch (especially if you have video or photographic evidence. Why? We hope to be able to help those wishing to pursue legal complaints.

If you tried to leave a kettle because you wanted/needed to go home/use the toilet/take medication etc. but were refused, please get in touch. Why? We aim to collect statements/video to help challenge the use of this police tactic.

phone call 07946 541511

email GBCLegal@riseup.net

twitter @GBCLegal

Always remember, 'no comment!' until you have spoken to a decent solicitor!

Here are a few of the blogs from this weeks occupations which took place across the UK
The students have put up their demands and each occupation can be followed at length.
We will add as you send them in.

London:
UCL: http://ucloccupation.wordpress.com
SOAS: http://soasoccupation2010.wordpress.com/
Royal Holloway: http://rhacc.wordpress.com/

UK:
OXFORD: http://occupiedoxford.org
Manchester: http://mmuoccupation.wordpress.com/

List of Universities Occupied:
Strathclyde
Oxford
Edinburgh
Warwick
Sheffield
Essex
Cardiff
Bristol
Birmingham
Plymouth
UCL
Leeds
UWE
SOAS
Royal Holloway
Birmingham City
UEL
Manchester Met

FIT are filming as usual.

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1pm Police have blocked the march from entering Parliament square. There are lines of police blocking the whole width of whitehall, backed  up by at least 7 police vans. Behind are at least 15 mounted officers outside Parliament. At the back of the march more police are following. Blocking the march with riot police in Whitehall is only going to lead to trouble...

13.10 attempt to break police line at bottom of whitehall. police pushing march back. police van in middle of crowd graffed and windows cracked.

another crack in the wall

...

Roehampton Students Occupy Roof & Inside of Grove House in Roehampton Uni

email: rhracsg@hotmail.co.uk

blog: http://roeunioccupation.wordpress.com/

twitter: @Roeoccupy

ROEHAMPTON STUDENTS OCCUPY UNIVERSITY

EMBARGO: 2.30PM WEDNESDAY 24TH NOVEMBER, 2010

In conjunction with the day of national student direct action, at 2:30 pm on Wednesday 24th November students at Roehampton University have occupied Grove House, one of the university's administrative buildings.

This action is in protest against the proposed scrapping of the university's popular and unique Human Rights BA, as well as the wider cuts being faced by higher education.

It is also in solidarity with the other student actions taking place on the same day across the country. Grove House was targeted because of it's administrative status and its high-visibility value on the campus. The students taking part in other actions had no prior knowledge of this occupation, and are not responsible for it happening.

This action has been planned and carried out by a small group of students acting independently, but has been designed to coincide with the larger student walk-out taking place at 11am and other actions organised on the same day.

We demand the following of roehampton university:

* no victimisation or punishment of any students participating in occupation & no victimisation or punishment of any students involved in possible future non-violent direct action against fees &

cuts - any such victimisation or punishment will be countered with further action

* a pledge from the university to fight education cuts - including a press release from vice-chancellor condemning cuts to higher education and the raising of tuition fees

* no scrapping of university programmes without meaningful prior consultation and agreement with students and affected staff
* no compulsory redundancies
* the opening of all financial records to public scrutiny on request in order to facilitate a transparent debate

We also sincerely request of roehampton lecturers:

open lectures with a discussion of the impact of cuts on the university in order to raise awareness

Further action will be taken until these demands are met.

All sorts of people in the kettle including tourists and random people having tea. It was pretty tightly packed, but after a mesh fence on a building site was pushed down there was a bit more space. Cop van is stuck in the middle of the crowd.

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People need to keep warm on a chilly day...

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The march has passed Trafalgar Square and is heading for Whitehall

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the next generation

hopeful...

the 'universities and college union' (UCU) organised a protest outside the college of north east london in tottenham at lunchtime today as part of the european TUC's day of action against cuts.  it was also supported by 'haringey alliance for public services'.  the demo is one of several running up to a big protest march and rally on the eve of the council budget on monday 18th october in wood green.

a couple of dozen people turned up for the lunchtime protest in damp conditions this afternoon.

with a megaphone, some percussion, chants and placards, the spirited protest attracted quite a lot of interest and a large group of students watched, listened to speeches and took leaflets about the upcoming march on the 18th october.

monday the 18th will see an assembly at wood green library in the high street at 5.30, marching to the civic centre for a rally at 6.30

inside the civic centre, the council will be meeting on the eve of a budget set to bring massive cuts to public services in haringey.

the protests are hoping to stop a massive programme of cuts, closures and privatisation threats, with between 10 and 25% set to be slashed from provision for 16 to 18 year olds, and with up to 40% set to go over the next four years from the adult skills budget.

protestors fear swingeing cuts to local services of all kinds, hospital and health services, public sector jobs, the voluntary and community sector, and to welfare benefits.

they are calling for councillors to stand up to government and refuse to implement the devastating cuts, or to resign.

to get involved or find out about resistance to cuts in haringey, contact 'haringey alliance fro public services' (HAPS) at www.hapsnews.net

Unison is protesting outside the YMCA on Stockwell Road that currently hosts the Annual General Meeting of Lambeth Living (who also are responsible for the recent Mayall Road eviction) against proposed cuts in public services. In spite of the rain 20 people have gathered, with banners, signs handing out leaflets and brandishing some sort of blow up batons.

Public services across the UK are at risk. Services that hold communities together and protect the most vulnerable in our society are being cut and sold off after the government’s June budget. And now Chancellor George Osborne is preparing to announce even more cuts in the Comprehensive Spending Review on 20 October.

UNISON is campaigning against public service cuts and to ensure that the message is heard loud and clear ALL members need to be mobilised to defend our public services. UNISON members drive our ambulances, teach our children, clean our streets, care for our elderly and tackle crime in our neighbourhoods. We need to protect their jobs and the services they provide.

To show your solidarity for this campaign please make every effort to come along to the rally on 29 September and join members from other trade unions to listen to speakers from the TUC, SERTUC, GMB, UNISON, Unite, Anti-Academies Alliance – plus others still to confirm.