Thousands of students confront police kettle in Whitehall

Several thousand school and college students who responded to the call for a walk-out on Wednesday 24 November marched from Trafalgar Square and hoped to protest against the proposed increase in university fees outside Parliament.

However, they were blocked by police at the south end of Whitehall and then kept in a kettle from shortly after noon until late in the evening. Squads and detachments of students from all over London kept turning up and joined the protest all through the afternoon. Their mood was strong and confident.

Most of the demonstrators were sixth form and FE college students. Many were also younger, and considerable numbers turned up in their school uniforms.

The students were demonstrating peacefully. They object to the increase in university fees and also the threat to the Education Maintenance Allowance, and hoped to protest in Parliament Square. However, the police tactics led to frustration building up in the kettle and it boiled over in damage to a police van  and street furniture.

2000 students in Bristol were joined by FE college and sixth form students in a march to the city centre. 200 demonstrators in Cambridge tried to scale the railings around the Senate House and then burst into the grounds of Kings College while in Oxford the library was occupied. There was a big march in Winchester. A thousand students in Leeds were joined by sixth-formers from Allerton Grange and Roundhay schools and many others in a demonstration. There were also big demonstrations in Brighton and Manchester.