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Demo 2010 student protests: Demonstrators gain entry to 30 Millbank. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images 9.43pm: Today's protests - the largest and most dramatic yet in response to the government's austerity measures - are largely over, and I'm going to wrap up our live blog here. But as the protest ends, tonight both ministers and protesters are acknowledging the events at Millbank Tower today are likely to be "just the beginning" of public demonstrations of anger over cuts.
Here's a recap on the key events of the day:
• Around 52,000 students marched through London in protest at plans to increase tuition fees while cutting state funding for university teaching.
• Around 200 people from the march occupied 30 Millbank – the building that houses the Conservative party's campaign headquarters – and a stand-off with police ensued.
• Police in riot gear clashed with protesters, who had smashed windows and mounted the roof of the building. Fourteen people – police and activists – were injured and police arrested 35 demonstrators.
• The NUS distanced itself from the violence, with its president Aaron Porter saying he "absolutely condemned" the scenes; the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said he was appalled that a small minority had "abused their right to protest"; and the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, said the force should have anticipated the level of violence "better", adding: "It's an embarrassment for London and for us."
And to repeat Adam's request, if you have been involved in the protests today and would like to share any photos, videos or yarns, then please contact him either on Twitter: @adamgabbatt or by email: adam.gabbatt@guardian.co.uk. He'll have a look through any footage tomorrow and hopefully include it on the website. And my thanks to you all for your comments and emails and for reading. Here is tomorrow's front page story.
8.40pm: A spokesman for Scotland Yard has said protesters were still being released from the scene at 8.20pm.He said: "As far as we're aware there's still people being released down there. There have been 35 arrests so far. We began a controlled containment to release those inside at 6.20pm and we're still in the process of doing that. It's coming to an end but we don't have an approximate time of how long that will take to finish."
He added that the force did not know whether those responsible for the violence and damage to the building had been apprehended, as it was possible they might have left the scene prior to officers' intervention. "There will be an ongoing investigation once today's operation is over."
8.30pm: Right now, we believe there are no longer any protesters in Millbank Tower, but students are still in the area. We are waiting for police to confirm this. Meanwhile a small number of protesters are being penned in by police as they stage a sit down protest on Parliament Square.8.14pm: Link to this video
Michael White has looked at the protest in the context of the change of government. He writes: "Right on cue, exactly six months into David Cameron's premiership, the ancient British roar of 'Tory scum' echoed across central London again today …"
Richard Sprenger has been at the protests today. Here he captures on video the rising tensions in the crowd around Millbank Tower and the moment demonstrators who have already gained entry to the building kick out one of the windows before riot officers arrive to add to police numbers.
8.05pm:A police spokesman tonight said 225 officers were initially drafted in to cover the protest, the Press Association is reporting. He said while they had anticipated the scale of the demonstration, they had not expected any trouble.
The protest was initially expected to attract 20,000, but numbers seem closer to 50,000. That means initially the police were expecting one officer to about 90 demonstrators, and in practice had about 220 to one.
The police spokeman said the number of officers policing the event "increased vastly" during the day, with officers on reserve brought in to help. The total number of police officers involved in today's operation is not yet known.
7.54pm:Baroness Warsi, the co-chairman of the Conservative party, was in 30 Millbank with her staff when the protest broke out. She's been speaking to the BBC News channel. She said she believe the police responded in circumstances that they felt best. She said: "This was clearly a protest where people had a legitimate right to protest an issue that they felt very strongly about, and it's a shame that a small minority of those protesters ruined it for everyone.
"I think at all times that my staff and I felt that the police were responding. The staff remained, we didn't have to evacuate the building. Many of them continued working, then at about 6pm this evening the whole building was evacuated."
Warsi said it was "sad" that the chaos caused by a number of the protesters spoiled the day, and added: "That actually helps nobody, and it certainly doesn't take the debate any further." She defended the party's stance on tuition fees, saying that "difficult decisions" had to be made in "difficult times".
7.50pm:
Matthew Taylor has called in to say there's no truth in the reports of a sit-in at the LSE.
Earlier reports on Twitter suggested some students has occupied a building.
Also the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, has said the force should have anticipated the level of violence "better", adding: "It's an embarrassment for London and for us."
7.44pm:Karen Wood, a freelance writer from Hampshire, was in the Millbank Pizza Express when the students began to arrive and said she was surprised to see there were few police in the area and that officers did not turn out in force until two hours after the first protesters arrived.
"I got there at 1.10pm, at 1.30pm the first students ran up to the front of Millbank. There were then about four or five police around but there was no barrier or cordon as outside parliament and Downing Street. As the march arrived down there the police disappeared. I left the resturant and walked up nearer the front of the protesters and there were no police around. There were five around the back doing nothing. The police didn't arrive in force until 3pm."
7.06pm:A police spokesman tonight said 32 people had been arrested for a range of offences, including criminal damage and trespass, and were now in custody. Those arrested are being taken to a police stations across central London including Westminster and Fulham.
Earlier, the London mayor, Boris Johnson, said: "I am appalled that a small minority have today shamefully abused their right to protest. This is intolerable and all those involved will be pursued and they will face the full force of the law."
6.59pm:Jonathan Haynes picking up from Adam here. As protesters are released from cordons of police outside Millbank Tower, some have been speaking out. Leila Khaled, 22, a student at Essex University described the police tactics as kettling - the tactic of penning in protesters widely criticised after its use at the G20 protests in London last year.
She said: "We've been kettled in and people are getting desperate here. It's freezing and all we want is to go home.We're not here to cause any trouble."
6.48pm:The Press Association are reporting that at least four protesters, all in handcuffs, have been driven away from the scene in a police van.
Rachel Williams says six more vans have been driven into the courtyard of Millbank Tower, and people are being loaded inside. No word from police on the total number of arrests yet.
Right that's it for today, thanks for reading and commenting. My colleague Jonathan Haynes will be updating the blog with any major news for the next few hours.
If you have been involved in the protests today and would like to share any photos, videos or yarns, then please contact me either on Twitter: @adamgabbatt or by email: adam.gabbatt@guardian.co.uk. I'll have a look through any footage tomorrow and hopefully include it on the website.
6.40pm:A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Federation has said today's protests should serve as a reminder to the government to maintain police numbers.
He said officers had shown "great restraint and professionalism", but added:
"It is a reminder that the government must maintain the number of fully warranted police officers to ensure that policing these spontaneous incidents, along with their everyday duties, can be sustained in the capital," he added.
"While we understand and support the right to peaceful protest, police officers must be supported when dealing with such unprovoked violence."
6.21pm:One of the protesters who was outside Millbank today, @mikarv, has sent me the video below which shows activists on the roof of the building which houses the Conservative campaign HQ allegedly throwing a fire extinguisher towards riot police below.
The crowd on the ground respond with by booing, before beginning to chant "Stop throwing shit."
@mikarv said he couldn't see whether it struck an officer or not, "but it fell exactly where a dense crowd of riot police were".
Video from @mikarv on YouTubeI've just spoken to the Met, who can't confirm it struck an officer. London Ambulance Service were also unsure. Their spokeswoman would only confirm that staff treated 13 people for minor injuries, 11 at St Thomas's hospital, 2 at Chelsea and Westminster hospital.
6.04pm:I've just spoken to the Metropolitan police who now say 14 people have been taken to hospital today – "some police, some protesters".
The spokesman could not confirm the number of people who have been arrested, but "clearly there have been some", he said.
The original policing plan was for 225 police officers policing the demonstration, the spokesman said, "but that was increased". He wouldn't say how many more officers were drafted in.
5.57pm:Rachel Williams is still at Millbank, and is "being kettled".
5.51pm:
They've cleared the forecourt area of Millbank and have moved protesters over to the bank of the river. There is an unbroken line of police officers surrounding us to the front and sides, with the Thames behind. The mood is fairly quiet, perhaps as protesters realise they could be here for some time.
Matthew Taylor, who has moved on from Millbank, says a study camp is forming in Parliament Square. Students are carrying duvets and blankets to the area, where campers were moved on in the summer after a legal judgement, and will reportedly camp out over night.
Reports are also suggesting some students have occupied a London School of Economics building – hopefully we'll have more on this soon.
5.38pm:My colleague Ben Quinn has been following the rolling news coverage this afternoon, and writes:
5.20pm:Sky News ran into difficulty about 5 minutes ago when they attempted to go live to one of their reporters on the ground. She appeared to lose her temper as students standing around her began to pitch in with comments like 'ladies and gentlemen the insurrection has started'.
"They just want to shout people down," said, turning to them and telling them (as well as the studio) that the vast majority of people at the protest didn't support what has happened.
Sky cut the link, with an anchor saying, not entirely convincingly : "I'm not sure what was happening there."
I've just spoken to one of the protesters who disputes some of the reports that the Millbank building and roof protests were engineered by non-students – saying "only a couple" of people of the 30 on the rooftop were not students.
Olivia Wedderburn, 18, from Kingston in south east London, was one of "20 to 30" protesters who managed to get onto the roof of the Millbank building at around 2.30pm.
She is a second year A-level student at Esher College, in Kingston, studying History, English literature and Philosophy.
"We were in the courtyard [of Millbank] and people were smashing through the glass to get into the building and saying 'Come in', so we just went into the building," Widderburn said.
"Then there was an opportunity to go up the stairs so we thought 'Oh we'll do that', so we went up there.
"There were only about 20/30 people going up the stairs, but on the way up the whole staircase was flooded – they had pulled down a fire hose and flooded all the floors. All the windows were getting smashed, everything was getting smashed up all around."
"They were mainly young students, just a couple of older guys who looked like old school anarchists," she said.
"I only saw two people who didn't look like students."
Widderburn said she was inspired to come on the march because of the high fees she faced paying if she was unsuccessful in getting into university next year and had to defer.
"Because I'm only in my second year if I don't get into a university next year then it'll be around £9,000 which is just not affordable," she said.
"I don't understand why education should be a privilege and not a right, and that's why I came down."
4.54pm:My colleague Mark Tran has the latest from the Metropolitan police:
4.40pm:"Reserves are on the scene and there is a containment operation at Millbank. Our primary concern is public safety," said deputy assistant commissioner Rose Fitzpatrick outside Tory party headquarters.
Asked whether the police had been caught unprepared by the violence, she replied that police had worked closely with the organisers: 'We were planning for a peaceful demonstration and we are very disappointed that some people chose not to demonstrate peacefully."
She said there had been a number of arrests.
The Metropolitan police have confirmed that eight people have been injured – "a mixture of police and protesters". The police are not currently giving out information on the number who have been arrested.
The London Ambulance Service says it has treated seven people – again believed to be a mixture of police and protesters. Four were treated at St Thomas's hospital, two at Chelsea and Westminster hospital, while one was treated at the scene, a spokeswoman said.
4.20pm: • Around 200 people protesting against increases in university fees have occupied 30 Millbank – the building that houses the Conservative party's campaign headquarters.
• Police in riot gear have clashed with protesters, who have smashed windows and mounted the roof of the building. Eight people – police and activists – have been injured.
• The NUS has distanced itself from the violence, with its president Aaron Porter saying he "absolutely condemned" the scenes. The NUS estimates 52,000 protesters have taken part in the demonstrations today.
• As night falls on London hundreds of protesters remain outside the Tory HQ, gathering around two fires. Police have formed a line, blocking further protesters from enteringh the building.
3.35pm:Matthew Weaver has found this video footage of at least 200 protesters storming the Millbank complex, where Tory HQ is housed, shouting "Tory scum."
A harassed security guard can be seen on the phone, presumably calling for backup. What looks like a smoke bomb was set off behind the security desk.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/asifkhan/5163666447/
And here's the moment the glass was smashed at Millbank:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/asifkhan/5163734529/
3.24pm:Paul Lewis has managed to exchange text messages with one of the protesters occupying the roof at Millbank. The group who have occupied the roof have released a statement warning that "this is only the beginning".
3.18pm:"We stand against the cuts, in solidarity with all the poor, elderly, disabled and working people affected. We are against all cuts and the marketisation of education. We are occupying the roof of Tory HQ to show we are against the Tory system of attacking the poor and helping the rich. This is only the beginning."
While there certainly does appear to be a large group outside Millbank, of course the majority of the claimed 52,000 protesters in London have demonstrated peacefully.
Rachel Williams has been at the rally point – the end of the march, all afternoon, where the mood has been more serene.
3.09pm:While protestors were forcing their way into Millbank Tower, those at the front of the march were watching videos and hearing impassioned speeches.
Footage of Nick Clegg promising to scrap tuition fees was met with chants of "wanker, wanker", while Sally Hunt, UCU's general secretary, led the rally in a cry of "You say Tories, I say scum."
Frances O'Grady, deputy general secretary of the TUC, told the crowd: "This is about turning our colleges and universities from places of learning and opportunity into finishing schools for the rich."
She was greeted with a roar of approval as she warned the government: "Don't dare tell us we're all in this together, because the bankers have been let off scot-free."
NUS president Aaron Porter said the march, attended by around 50,000 people, was the biggest student demo in generations.
He told protesters: "We're in the fight of our lives ... we face an unprecedented attack on our future before it has even begun.
"They're proposing barbaric cuts that would brutalise our colleges and universities."
This "miserable vision" would be resisted, he said, imploring students to take their protests to their constituencies and adding: "This is just the beginning ... the resistance begins here."
Speak of the devil: Aaron Porter has just been interviewed on BBC News, he said that the violence at Millbank Tower was "absolutely not" the plan.
"I absolutely condemn the small minority of students and others that have gone off on this splinter demonstration."
Put to him that there were actually a fairly large group of students outside Millbank, Porter said a small group had splintered off but more students may have followed to "have a look".
He urged students not to go down to the Conservative headquarters.
3.05pm:Reaction from NUS on Twitter (the phone numbers for their press office are – unsurprisingly – busy, so we'll have to go with this for now):
• nusuuk Disappointed to see a few people at Millbank undermine the actions of 50000 others #demo2010
Here's the post from NUS President Aaron Porter in full too (I've also tried calling him but he's also engaged):
• AaronPorter Proud of the 50,000 students who have come to protest peacefully. Shame on those who are here to cause trouble. #demo2010
2.55pm:Paul Lewis has filed from Millbank Tower, where violent scenes continue and some missiles are being thrown at police. The disturbances have been condemned by Aaron Porter, President of the NUS: "Shame on those who are here to cause trouble", he wrote on his Twitter account.
2.44pm:
Fires burning, eggs thrown, windows smashed, activists with scarves across their faces barricaded into a marble-clad lobby after exchanging punches with police, all to chants of "Tory Scum". Feels like the 1980s here at Millbank Towers.
It started around 1.30(ish) when protesters deviated from the set route and headed for the location of the Conservative headquarters. A bunch got into the lobby of the building (though they may, it seems, have got the wrong tower) while the remainder began burning banners in the outside forecourt.
They're still burning now, an hour later. There have been repeated skirmishes with police as the crowd worked out that if they surged at a thin line of police they could get in.
Batons have been used, but police have been subjected to a constant barrage of missiles (mainly placard sticks and eggs, but I have seen bottles) and at least two officers have been injured. Protesters have also just managed to smash a three metre high window at the front of the building.
I can't see this calming any time soon. Someone has just turned up with a drum'n'bass sound-system. Police have also drafted in their riot squad, the Territorial Support Group.
Helmets and full riot gear are out. As are about a thousand iPhones and digital cameras.
Eloise Veljovic, a first year politics student at Leeds University, travelled down with both fellow students and lecturers to the protests in London.
Here's Eloise's report of her day so far:
2.16pm:The four hour coach journey down was predominantly filled with 3rd year and postgrad students, who won't even be affected by these changes but feel disillusioned and worried about the prospect of "corporate takeovers" as unis are being pushed towards a more business-minded way of working.
Steph Tweedale, a 1st year history student told me that "just because the raised cap on tuiton fees won't affect me, it doesn't mean it won't affect my department, the Browne review suggests cutting humanities funding by 100% which is unacceptable".
Some students feel that it's unfair that the people who got their education for free – for example our parents' generations are now placing their budget deficits onto us. As someone who didn't vote in the last election, the current political situation makes me feel even more disillusioned than before. If the coalition was to collapse in the next six months I wouldn't vote again because policy changes such as this have shown that despite voting patterns, ultimately politicians will do as they please.
Paul Tobin, studying a masters in international development at Leeds University, said: "We're hoping today will show that students won't accept their futures being sold.
"I've left uni with £20,000 of debt and its frightening to think that my friends yet to go to uni could leave with double that."
Update from Paul Lewis:
Around 20 activists have forced their way through the police line and got into the building. Fights are breaking out between protesters and police.
We now have a line of territorial support group officers who have been drafted in and they are putting on their riot gear helmets, and missiles are being thrown towards the entrance.
The regular constables are being replaced. Windows on the building have been cracked.
The journalist Shiv Malik also reports of disturbances outside Westminster:
2.06pm:Protesters have cleared the barriers outside the Houses of Parliament and 200 of them are now staging a sit-down protest.
Paul Lewis rings to report that two police officers have been injured in the process of removing protesters from the ground floor of Millbank Tower.
Matthew Taylor on the student protests outside Conservative HQ at Millbank Tower 2.01pm:The occupation of the lobby of building has ended. Two officers have been injured, one to the cheek, one to the nose, and they are being treated by a police medic.
The fire is still burning in forecourt outside Tory HQ, and the protesters don't seem to want to go anywhere.
Here's some audio from Matthew Taylor, entrenched in the crowd of protesters outside Millbank Tower. He says the protests have been continuing outside the building for over 30 minutes, and is surprised at the relatively small police presence:1.51pm:
Paul Lewis is also outside the Conservatives Millbank HQ, where workers have been evacuated after 200 protesters gained entry. Police have "batons raised" in an attempt to clear the building, Paul says:
1.37pm:Police have just stormed the building with batons in what looks like an attempt to clear the area, however the attempt failed. Some batons were used to strike out at protesters inside, but police have left the protesters inside and instead formed a line in front of the entrance to the building.
We have a stand off.
Office workers have been evacuated from the building, after a warning message was sounded out inside. They are now sitting on grass opposite.
Some protesters have broken into the Conservative party's Millbank headquarters, our man on the ground Matthew Taylor says:
1.18pm:I'm at 30 Millbank, the Tory HQ, and there's around 200 people inside Tory HQ, with several thousand outside.
Protesters are shouting: "Nick Clegg, we know you, you're a fucking Tory too."
Police are pushing through as we speak, there's a lot of jostling going on.
Rachel Williams has been speaking to people from the NUS – who have an astonishing estimate of the number involved in the march:
Organisers have just told me that latest estimate is 52,000. I'm near where the rally will be in Millbank and hundreds protesters are coming from the opposite direction to the march.
They're not being allowed into the rally point, but being sent back to the start of the march on Horse Guards parade.
At the rally there'll be speeches from prominent NUS and UCU figures.
I've just spoken to the Metropolitan police, who wouldn't confirm the figure as a matter of policy. A spokesman said there had been no arrests so far today.
1.05pm:Paul Lewis reports from central London, where there is a "massive turnout":
12.53pm:I'm stood on a wall outside Downing Street with a prime view of the
demonstration, which has just got going. First thoughts: there is a massive turnout.Crushed crowds stretching back to Trafalgar Square and down side-streets. Seasoned snappers who cover protests on a regular basis estimating this is one of the biggest they've seen for years, perhaps since Stop the War. Pinch of salt alert: there is a tendency to get quite over-excited in crowds. Secondly: expect action.
Usual suspects are around and they won't be marching past parliament without causing at least a bit of fuss. Expect sit-downs, break-aways, attempted occupations and the like.
Plenty telling me the are going to try it. That said, the anarchist block (in black and red masks and hoods, and the gang that normally precipitate the action) is actually quite thin.
Time for a lunchtime recap:
• The NUS says "significantly more" than 24,000 students are protesting in London, after a surge in interest in the last 48 hours. They have also unveiled plans to try to force by-elections in seats where Lib Dem MPs break their pledge to vote against higher tuition fees, by using "right to recall" legislation promised by the coalition.
• Students have begun to march from Horse Guards Parade, in central London, past Westminster to a rally point in Millbank, by the River Thames. Early estimates from journalists at the scene suggest the crowds could be the biggest since the Stop the War protests.
• Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, has "reluctantly" cancelled his attendance at the Oxford union next Wednesday. The Lib Dem leader has proved a particular target for protesters' ire, with many criticising him for reneging on his pre-election promise not to increase university fees.
• Clegg and Harriet Harman, filling in a PMQs, have clashed over the issue, with Harman accusing the deputy PM of having been "led astray" by the Tories. Clegg acknowledged that graduates who go on to high-earning careers will pay "over the odds" for their degrees as part of the shake-up of higher education funding.
12.22pm:Guardian reporters Paul Lewis and Matthew Taylor are down in central London talking to the crowd and both tweeting from the scene – their messages will appear on the right of the blog, but you can also follow them at @paul__lewis and @mrmatthewtaylor
12.08pm:Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, has "reluctantly" cancelled his attendance at the Oxford union next Wednesday, writes my colleague Helene Mulholland – reacting to a tip-off from @JKeen14 on Twitter.
11.57am:
The cabinet office said the Liberal Democrat deputy pm confirmed he would not be attending "some time ago" due to "an unfortunate clash of diaries".
The cabinet office spokesman said Clegg was always very keen to engage with students and young people, and pointed out that representatives from Oxford university were invited at the meeting Clegg held last Wednesday with students, at which he reportedly had a tough time during a fraught meeting on the tuition fee hike. Oxford representatives weren't impressed, according to the Oxford Student publication which said they had found the meeting "disappointing".
Clegg at least gave more warning than Vince Cable, the Lib Dem business secretary, who cancelled his talk in Oxford merely a day before his due arrival. His decision to pull out was in response to a police notification that a large student protest was planned, according to the university's Cherwell publication.
Clegg did not offer to reschedule his visit when he cancelled, according to the cabinet office. "It is not something that is in his diary," said the spokesman.
I've just been speaking with Joe Oliver, one of the tweeters we'll be following through today and Education Officer at University of Sheffield Students' Union, as he nears the assembly point in central London.
He reckons there are around 1,000 people heading down from Sheffield to protest, and says people in the city are "absolutely furious at Nick Clegg" for abandoning his pledge to vote against increases in university fees.
Joe Oliver, education officer at University of Sheffield Students' Union. Turn off automatic updates at the top of the page to listen to the whole thing
11.42am:
11.25am:
Thousands of students are starting to gather outside the LSE now [some of them enjoying pre Demo pint] and there is an air of excited determination as they wait for the march to start. There is talk of direct action throughout the day by some of the more radical groups - we will have to wait and see.
For others this is their first protest and they just want to make their voice heard.
Adama Munu, 20, a history student at Queen Mary's told me:
"I thought this would be a good place to go on my first demo because I have younger siblings and I don't want them to suffer. They should have the right a good education so I decided to take come along."Up the road at Soas Rosa Wild, 22, said she had been preparing for today's demonstration for weeks, adding it marked the start of a concerted fightback against the government's plans.
"Students are going to be the people who will lead the fight against the cuts."
Earlier (9.24am) I mentioned that the Guardian's datablog has mapped out where today's protesters were coming from, but I failed to post said map.
Well, here it is:
11.09am:
Here's a little round up of some of the tweets I've been sent so far – students from Northern Ireland are in London, meaning there is an academic presence from every corner of the United Kingdom: • @berndav @adamgabbatt A coach load of students from Queen's University Belfast took the o'ernight ferry to protest in London. Pls add us to the blog!
And here's a good point below, lest we forget:
• @NishmaDoshi @adamgabbatt It's not just students marching! Lots of graduates (in debt) marching too, in solidarity. #demo2010
There are also a number of lecturers and other academic staff pounding the streets/on their way to pound the streets.
• @GoldAnthUncut @AdamGabbatt Students/lecturers tweeting from Goldsmiths Anthropology - the dept of Nick Clegg's favourite prof, Keith Hart (emeritus).
10.51am:We can expect "significantly more" than the predicted 24,000 students protesting in London today, writes our education correspondent, Rachel Williams. Rachel has just attended an NUS press conference in the centre of the capital.
The NUS say they're now expecting "significantly more" than 24,000 students after a surge in interest in the last 48 hours. They also unveiled plans to try to force by-elections in seats where Lib Dem MPs break their pledge to vote against higher tuition fees. This would involve using "right to recall" legislation promised by the coalition, under which a by-election is triggered if 10% of constituents sign a petition expressing no confidence in an MP who has been found to have engaged in serious wrongdoing.
This isn't actually law yet, and it seems questionable whether it could be used in this way, or indeed whether, when the law was passed, it would apply to actions taken before then. But the NUS says the such a move on its part would nevertheless be highly embarrassing to Lib Dems in university constituencies where students and lecturers made up a large proportion of voters - as much as 15% to 20% in some areas - and the politicians had won their votes by promising to oppose higher fees.
10.42am:
The comedian Stewart Lee, who received a university grant to study at Oxford University from 1986-89, opposes the increase in university fees. In this video by MichaelUpNorth, he says the withdrawal of the grant and subsequent increases in the cost of studying stopped a certain type of person from going to university.
.10.30am:
Jeevan Vasagar, the Guardian's education editor, has written an FAQ on today's protests.
Why are they protesting?
The government is proposing to raise tuition fees, allowing some universities to charge as much as £9,000, while cutting university budgets by 40 percent. Currently, students in England pay £3,290 pounds a year. Students, lecturers and some university vice-chancellors say these proposals are an unfair transfer of the cost of higher education from society to the individual.
What is the likely impact of the budget cuts?
The cuts are expected to hit the arts and humanities hardest, as funding for science, medicine and engineering is likely to be protected. In practice, this means universities which are able to charge the full £9,000 should raise enough money to provide a full spectrum of courses, but newer universities are likely to focus on vocational degrees where they can be sure of attracting students. The fear is that the arts, especially modern languages, become the preserve of the most privileged students.
Will a big hike in tuition fees put off poorer students?
The government says not. Even after top-up fees were brought in under Blair,
the numbers wanting to go to university kept rising. Research published in
May by Offa, an education watchdog, found that top-up fees had not increased
the disparity between rich and poor teenagers attending elite universities.
But that increase was small compared to what is being proposed now. Vice-chancellors who wrote a letter published in the Guardian today fear that working class families are more debt averse than the middle class.
What does the government say?
Ministers say a change to the way universities are paid for is inevitable. Britain is shifting from an elite system paid for through general taxation to a society in which, in a few years' time, more than half of young people will go to university. They say that cuts have to be made to budgets as part of wider austerity measures but the strongest universities will flourish and grow. Poorer students will benefit from scholarships and universities which
charge more than £6,000 will have to show they are doing more to widen access.
We'll be following the progress, via the medium of Twitter, of three students in particular through today – @UADSA_VP_Attila, from the University of Abertay, in Dundee, @Arf_22, from Goldsmiths University, in London, and @joe_oliver, from the University of Sheffield, in erm, Sheffield.
@UADSA_VP_Attila set off from Dundee at 11pm last night. A mere 11 hours later, he's arrived in London.
Touchdown, touchdown! @AbertayUni students are off the bus! I hear bagpipes :)
Incidentally, you can contact me on Twitter if you fancy – @adamgabbatt.
9.53am:.
Demo 2010 march route 9.49am: Here's the route that tens of thousands of students will tread this afternoon. It's a bitterly cold day in London, I hope they're wrapped up. Converse won't do you any favours in this weather.
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Off to a great start accuracy-wise – it seems the students travelling from Dundee (presumably not driving barefoot, eating Toblerone) have not endured the longest journey.
@ukycc @adamgabbatt - Correction - There are 150 students from the University of Aberdeen attending #Demo2010 which is further then Dundee!
9.24am:The Guardian's datablog has mapped out where the students attending today's march have travelled from. The furthest flung so far appears to be from the University of Abertay, in Dundee, while there's also a contingent from the University of Bangor, in Wales.
Aside from the London universities, the University of Sheffield is contributing one of the largest numbers of students – 500, which activists from the university say has risen because of anger directed at Nick Clegg. The deputy prime minister has been widely criticised for reneging on a Lib Dem election promise not to increase tuition fees.
You can view the full list of universities attending, and the number of students they are bringing, here.
9am:The coalition government is expected to face the largest show of opposition to its austerity cuts since it came to power today, with tens of thousands of students taking to the streets of London to protest against increases in university fees.
According to the National Union of Students, which has organised today's demonstration with the academic staff's University and College Union, 24,034 students have registered to take part in the march, and many have purchased seats on coaches booked to ferry students to central London.
The mass of students and university workers will congregate at Horse Guards Avenue in Central London at 11.30am today, before marching past Westminster to a rally point at Millbank, around two miles from the start point.
The largest student contingent is expected to come from London-based universities, which are anticipating more than 5,000 marchers to show up. About 3,200 students from other universities in the south-east have said they will attend, with more than 4,500 students signed up from the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside. The march is organised by the National Union of Students and the lecturers' union, the University and College Union (UCU).
Fourteen coaches have been booked to bring about 700 students from Manchester's two universities alone and 600 students from Reading University have said they will attend.
A big delegation is expected from Sheffield, where activists say anger has been directed at the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, whose constituency is in the city. He has been widely criticised for reneging on a Liberal Democrat election promise not to increase fees.
Students put calls out on Twitter and Facebook, where today's action has been trending as #Demo2010, to make Clegg's west London home the target of a spontaneous "flash mob" rally on the eve of the march. Aaron Porter, the NUS president, said: "This is the largest student protest in the UK for at least a decade … which goes to show the huge extent of discontent with this government's short-sighted plans, which will effectively privatise large parts of higher education and remove support for many college and adult education learners."
Some students with a track record of running "direct action" campaigns are also known to be planning co-ordinated sit-ins and occupations alongside the march. You can follow all the latest developments throughout the day here.
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