(UK) Student protests: Metropolitan police chief warns of new era of unrest ("The game has changed")

[Turborama]

Source: The Guardian

Britain's most senior police officer warned today of a new era of civil unrest as the national campaign against university fee increases and education cuts gathered momentum.

Sir Paul Stephenson, the commissioner of the Metropolitan police, said the two large-scale student demonstrations of the past fortnight had been marred by a previously unseen level of violence, adding: "The game has changed."

His comments were seized on by critics, who said the hard-line rhetoric risked escalating tensions with students organising the nationwide grassroots campaign against education cuts.

=snip=

More demonstrations are planned for the next month. More than 11,000 students have signed up to another wave of classroom walkouts and marches planned for next Tuesday. The demonstration will coincide with a Commons debate staged by Labour in a bid to expose Lib Dem divisions over the coalition's plans to dramatically increase tuition fees.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/nov/25/student-protests-new-era-unrest

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More pics here: http://pictures.metro.co.uk/lonstudentprotests2411/518022/Students-Protest-Over-The-Governments-Proposed-Changes-To-Tuition-Fees

I was reading in http://www.metro.co.uk/news/848244-student-protests-turn-violent-as-thousands-take-to-the-streets">this article that one of the chants was, "David Thatcher, education snatcher" :rofl:

[dipsydoodle]

1. They are paraphrasing

Thatcher , Thatcher - Milk Snatcher from the '70s.

:hi:

[Turborama]

2. LOL I hope it catches on

I'm going to refer to him as David Thatcher from now on.

:hi:

[rfranklin]

3. This is the type of "national emergency" that has been planned for...

in the USA. The concentration camps, or whatever term you choose, the extraordinary executive powers, the trashing of the Fourth Amendment, the spying, the searches, etc. It is to protect the uberwealthy from the angry masses. I am wondering if we will see any uprising when the new Congress tells us we have to tighten our belts, to do without, to relinquish the retirement funds that we have paid into for the past thirty years. I wonder.

[ixion]

4. Yep, spot on.

And Bush stepped up the urgency in getting them ready, but I notice the Tea Baggers didn't have a problem with them at that point.

[rfranklin]

7. Yes, because they actually believed that they, the chosen...

would not be subjected to imprisonment under Bush. They only fear it now that a brown person is in charge.

[Jkid]

5. It high they the British people actually do something about this.

Even better, why not protest austerity for the wealthy. They have all the money to survive.

[dipsydoodle]

6. The UK government has two current options

Either to provide more money for the universities or to make the students pay more for the privilege of attending them.

There may however be a third option - namely to shut down the bulk of universities altogether leaving only private universities.

[Odin2005]

8. why can't my fellow college students do that HERE!?!

[poisonemma]

9. -

i was the one who actually made up the "david thatcher - education snatcher" slogan - it was on my placard for the demo - no one was actually chanting it. i'm actually ridiculously surprised at how popular it was - i had god-only-knows how many photo's taken of me and the sign by the press on that day!

and then i burnt it at millbank. i have photographic evidence just fyi.

[ncrainbowgrrl]

10. Welcome to DU!

Glad to have you aboard! Awesome job with the slogan :)