My office is ten floors up on the opposite side of the river to Millbank Tower and 30 Millbank, the home of Conservative Campaign HQ. So I have had a bird's eye view of what's been going on with so-called students breaking windows and breaking into the reception areas.
I suspect that those purpetrating this mindless violence are not students at all. I am pretty sure they will be from left wing fringe groups who always infiltrate events like these.
The irony is that this protest was meant to target the LibDems, and as far as I know their Cowley Street HQ has remained untouched. To me that is further evidence that these so-called protesters aren't students at all. They're rent-a-mob, the kind of mindless thugs who always get in on the act in these situations. And all they ever achieve is to tarnish the reputation of the very people they purport to be supporting.
Actually, what they'll accomplish is ensuring this protest makes the news all over Europe, if not the world. French style.
ReplyDeleteWell it all depends on what you regard as a student in these times of 'lifelong learning'. Nice to see that our young people still object to authority, though.
ReplyDeleteNaturally there'll be the usual horrified comments by student 'leaders' that their peaceful demo was somehow hijacked by unknown trouble-makers. It was ever thus, of course.
What annoys me is that the Met has not learned from the CRS, who dearly love a good rumble with the students. Where are the water-cannons, teargas, the Tactical Support Group (or whatever it's called these days)? And it's such a nice day for a riot, too.
to be honest alot of left wing militant fringe groups are made up of students. Still it annoys me this protest, according to our own students association... £30,000 that was given by the university to it in order to fund sports facilities has been diverted to fund these protests... added to other funds from the association. This is TAXPAYERS money aswell.. now i just think its stupid that in order to fund a campaign against having less money to spend on students, they take even more money off students. AND this must be going on up an down the country, probably diverting hundreds of thousands of pounds from students.
ReplyDelete@Maximus Clark. What do you expect from these people. To them, spending other people's money is a right, not a privilege.
ReplyDeleteUnsworth has a good point...Seeing as how we are exchanging defence/ideas etc with the French, how about bringing the CRS across to London whenever we are afflicted by a dose of the `great unwashed` and let them face `real Police` for a change...tell you what they would`nt be back for a second helping after they had recovered from their wounds....
ReplyDeleteOhh bring it on
There's quite a lot of less than gruntled students at Oxford as the Student Union has decided it speaks for all students on the issue, when it is clear that some thinking JCRs have a range of opinions within them - the national union of students is simply fulfilling it's role as the creche for future Labour party reactionaries and authoritarians.
ReplyDeleteAaron Porter is leading these violent protests. He is a Labour party member and stood in NUS elections as a Labour Party candidate. Why is he still in the Labour Party? Why has Ed Milliband not condemned him? Join the Facebook group to call on Ed Milliband to expel Aaron Porter
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_140104496039698
Such a good job it wasn't peaceful members of the Countryside Alliance protesting. Then the police really would have gone storming in! Bastards.
ReplyDeleteWhile I can't speak for the RNC, I can understand why this doesn't happen to our state Republican headquarters - who would protect the protesters?
ReplyDeleteGiven that the local Community College (2 yr degree) is $4,500 a year, Ohio State is about $9,000 and a top private school is almost $40,000/yr my sympathies are as they should be.
Iain, looking at the students who are smashing the windows on Sky - they don't look like anarchist thugs but baby faced students. I don't think your diagnosis is correct.
ReplyDeleteThe protest being organised by the NUS, they should take reponsibility for all damage and injury. They should be invoiced for the cost of riot policing and sued by injured parties and landlords. I hope they had sufficient event insurance!
ReplyDeleteQuick student test.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you pop across the river and find out how many of them can spell "perpetrating"
Pedants' Corner stuff I know; but it's been a frustrating day
The students that failed to get into Cowley Street chose to vandalise a local resident's car instead opposite on Great Peter Street
ReplyDelete... perpetrating ...
ReplyDeleteThis will ensure that sympathy for hard up students will quickly evaporate.
ReplyDeleteTop Tip
ReplyDeleteSTUDENTS. While in London, head over to watch West Ham lose later, see how a real angry mob works
I've just worked out why the Education Secretary is on the China trip.
ReplyDeleteJavelin
ReplyDeleteI don't thing I've read quite such a ridiculous post for a long time.
You are seriously saying that thugs breaking windows, fighting and creating mayhem are only thugs if they LOOK the part ?
I think Mirtha Tidville has proposed very sound notion. After all, if we can jointly use complex machinery like aircraft carriers etc there's little difficulty in jointly using a multi-national riot control facility.
ReplyDeleteThe CRS could be brought from their Paris baracks into Central London on Eurostar pretty quickly, sort the riot out, and be back home in plenty of time for dinner. A truly satisfying arrangement, serving to maintain their skills whilst providing immense job satisfaction and national pride. It would surely be a lot cheaper than paying The Met all that overtime etc.
This is a fantastic opportunity for Hague to exploit - and it would further support the whole concept of Anglo-French co-operation. We drink their wine, eat their food, drive their cars and now we can also use their cops!
@Jimmy as usual a pathetic comment.
ReplyDeleteThese were students alright. As an academic I know how these students can get mean and self-serving, I warned my colleagues not to get involved in the demo. The other day, Daily Mail reported how the Churchill College Dean Dr Gopal described the students' binge drinking and vandalism took palce in the college premises, and how one student even propositioned to her! These students have a sense of entitlement, and that NUS president a pillock failed to produce a peaceful demonstration. That should kill off any sympathy the students had. My neighbour a peaceful old lady looked at horror the vandalism played out on the screen and her friend said, she was not surprised as she lives near a university and the students behviour was usually worse than thuggery.
That is the problem if we want 50% students to go to universities, most of them to new universities, the former polys where the drop out rate is in excess of 40% .
The Home Secretary should ban all further demos.
Amen, amen and thrice amen Mr Dale.
ReplyDelete"I am studying medicine but need to go and smash some windows"
"I am reading Greek Classics but need to attack a policeman with a brick"
"My study into preparation of healthy food is going well, so I will take a day off to go and throw a fire extinguisher from a great height"
Labour have dictated the PC agenda for many years. You now have an emasculated force that is a direct result of that PC attitude.
ReplyDeleteIt is distributed throughout the Police, unless you have that PC lefty attitude you will not progress. (just like the BBC)
So the decision is upto the public, a PC lefty bunch of girls masquerading as a Police Force. Or a Force with a pair of cahones, the choice is ours.