Yet again the voices of thousands of dissatisfied students, school-children, parents and tutors have been drowned out by a few unrepresentative shouts.
Between Camilla’s “dreadful ordeal” and the mindless destruction of Parliament Square, the true nature – and more importantly motivation – of last week’s protest has all but vanished in a puff of anarchist-red smoke.
I am appalled by the level of police violence especially directed at the most vulnerable in the crowd – girls, disabled people and school-children. Yet my anger is not only concentrated on the police – I, like many, feel betrayed by those we stood shoulder to shoulder with in the crowd.
We were marching for a legitimate cause – which was all but forgotten when the collective anger of the passionate crowd was manipulated by a minority intent on violence.
It was obvious that not all those who turned the protest into a battleground had begun the day with this intention. Most of them were young boys for whom the smashing of windows was about so much more than their EMA or university places. It was about being part of something in a society where Cameron’s “We’re all in this together” couldn’t be further from the truth – something the more organised troublemakers were keen to take advantage of.
Because of this the whole day was dictated by the anticipation of and reaction to violence. The aftermath of “DayX3” has been disgust at the recorded police brutality, outrage that the country’s youth attacked the Royals and fear that the desecration of Churchill’s statue is just the beginning of a revolt. Little column space has been given to the vote. The demo itself has over-shadowed the reason for protesting.
Nowhere in the popular media are there pictures of the two rakish university students reciting Byron to the police, or the impromptu bashment rave started by college kids in Parliament Square. Or the balloons, bubbles and paint that streaked the protest with colour. It is all fire, police, balaclavas and blood.
Attention has been deflected to anyone other than the group we should be scrutinising. People are not condemning the government that has so obviously lied to such a large proportion of those who voted for them. They are too busy attacking the students, or the police, or the college kids, or anarchists, or socialists or unions or whoever their newspaper of choice deems responsible for the events of Thursday.
How do you feel about what happened in London on the December 9, 2010? Were you there, or affected by it as you went about your day? Whatever your politics, ELL would really like to hear your views – please comment.
i think we need to look at the strategies used by the government at the protest as a reflection to the attitude with which they treat their public.
thousands of police cars were deported, they knew it would be bloody, resources that should be used to defend the streets form hardened and dangerous criminals were used to pulverise young girls and boys, as well as their parents, who were there out of desperation and despair for the future. why were there no paramedics? why? the state mobilized a huge and violent force. why did they not mobilize ambulances? why were beaten bodies ‘treated’ by ‘medically trained police’ – the same as those who threw them out of the kettles to the ground, whilst their firends were trapped inside for hours.
the brute force they rely upon is a testimony to their lack of alternatives. they have no inteligent strategies. this abuse goes on invisibly every day. they fear the uprising of the millions they have quelled. good. let them fear them. if there is violence, we can not condone it, but we can not treat it with violence. the cure must be found in the source of the anger. the government should rise above violent response. they are elected to do so. their job is to treat the wrongs in our society. you don’t lob off a limb to remove a cancer. unless you are compeltely mentally malfunctioning.
if any good has come form this it is that the injustice is stimulating the public’s direct action. it is bringing them together and finally awakening a sense of self-worth. the media is about to change in a monumental way after the wikileak scandal, in our favor. we don’t deserve this – the disfigured portrayal of public protest, the fascist techniques of repression defending a crumbling and cowardly government. we are not impotenet. we are many, they are few… creative forms of process are being born, and they are open to anyone who wants to be involved. we don’t need violence but cunning.
Hi Katie. A few points. Firstly, I think it is wrong to attempt to equate the violence of the police directed at peaceful protesters with the so-called violence of the students. When we talk about “violence”, we’re talking about both the destruction of property and the physical confrontation with the police.
The destruction of property is a legitimate form of protest. Suffragette leader, Emiline Pankhurst once said, “The argument of the broken window pane is the most valuable argument in modern politics.” The Suffragettes had a campaign of organised vandalism which contributed to one of the most important political victories in our history.
A generation has grown up knowing that official politics doesn’t work for us. Millions marched against the war in Iraq and were ignored (By the way, don’t you think there’s some hypocrisy in the politicians and media who supported and organised the murder of 1 million Iraqis condemning students for the “dangerous violence of smashing windows?). Many students voted Lib Dem to oppose fees. Most voters voted against the Tory party, but they now lead a government implementing policies no one voted for. Parliament hasn’t looked so unrepresentative, so out of touch and so contemptuous of society for many generations.
When we talk about violence against cops, what we’re talking about is the “violence” of unarmed, young people, defending themselves and each other; retaliating against the violence of the heavily armed, well-trained, unaccountable power of the state in the form of the police
I don’t accept that “a tiny minority” turn up intent on violence. I’ve been on hundreds of protests and never seen any evidence for the “anarchist conspiracy” theory. Some more experienced activists did turn up prepared to defend themselves. They came with helmets, shields, snooker balls, fire crackers etc. Why? Because we had learnt from the previous protests that the cops are intent on violence and intent on preventing us exercising our democratic rights. This time we were better prepared and they couldn’t keep us down and they almost lost control. We don’t seek out violence but we must be prepared to use it to defend ourselves and each other.
The majority of students protesting were either involved in or supported the physical defence against the cops. Those who did not want to become involved in confronting police, all benefited from the safe space inside Parliament Square which was defended from police attacks by those on the front-lines.
I believe those brave 16 and 17 year olds who refused to be beaten down by the police are heroes. The sense of solidarity and cooperation amongst the protesters was inspiring and gives me a renewed faith in the youth of this country.
Finally, I think it’s important to realise there is a class divide amongst the student protesters; between those, more middle-class, mostly white, current uni students; and the younger FE and school students protesting about EMA who are more working-class and have a much higher proportion of Black and Asians youth amongst them. This is important because a lot of those younger protesters already experience the intimidation of the police on a daily basis. They know the racist, anti-working class police who harass them, stop-and-search them and intimidate them on their estates, are their enemy. And many of these kids already have little faith in official politics. Many come from poor backgrounds, have experience of unemployment and the harsh reality of life on benefits. They know that their futures, already bleak, are being destroyed by the rich scum in the government.
When you say, “Most of them were young boys for whom the smashing of windows was about so much more than their EMA or university places”, you are right; it’s about the anger and frustration of a generation growing up with no future, no prospects in a world that treats them like dirt.
The youth are being radicalised and politicised by the government and its violent defenders in the police. The government provoked these protests with their violence against our lives but now the kids are fighting back.
Apologies for the length of my comment, but I think this is a really important argument which needs to be made. Thanks for your coverage of the issue.