I caught the train down to London yesterday for the AGM of the Campaign for an English Parliament and ended up getting caught up in the student protests after they chose the exact moment the bus taking us from the station to Parliament Square was at the top of Parliament Street to make their way to the House of Commons forcing us to get off and walk alongside them!
The protesters were pretty good natured at first, smiling and pulling faces but then someone let off a firework and that seemed to be a signal for the troublemakers to start winding people up. You could tell who the troublemakers were before they even did anything – dirty clothes, dreadlocks, hoodies, faces covered.
The CEP’s AGM was a couple of streets away so I popped back a few times to see what was going on and took a few photos and videos.
I wonder how many of the trouble makers are students rather than left wing thugs?
They were mostly students but you could see the agitators – filthy dreadlocked hair, hoodies, faces covered with a bandana. They hung around behind the police and then slipped into the crowd, wound them up and slipped back out again. Although they were mostly students it seemed to mostly be anti-government, anti-Tory chanting and banners. The Socialist Workers Party were very active there and the NUS rep that was on the telly the day after saying the police van they ransacked was left there as “a deliberate provocation” by the police had a hammer and sickle on his jumper.