Students march on Manchester

Warwick students joined thousands of protesters taking part in a demonstration against rises in tuition fees in Manchester on Saturday.

The march, which was coordinated with trade union demonstrations against wider public funding cuts, was largely peaceful although certain factions of the crowd broke away from the main body of the protest.

Scheduled speakers including MP John Lloyd and NUS Vice-President Shane Chowen, often meeting a barrage of jeers and at times projectiles (including eggs), as frustration fermented from ‘militant’ factions at a perceived lack of direct action and accurate representation by the NUS.

Cries of “general strike now” were heard frequently throughout proceedings, as groups of anarchists and socialists wielded banners stating, “Aaron Porter doesn’t represent me”

One 16-year-old claimed current protests felt “almost staged” and “more direct action was required”. Indeed, the relatively small crowd of 3,000-5,000, less than the expected 14,000, seemed restless and fatigued by rally speeches referring to “a war against young people”.

NUS President Aaron Porter was forced to abort his appearance after being surrounded by a group of protesters. Earlier, Porter had angered some students by saying in the _Guardian_ that he would not “appease an unrepresentative, self-aggrandising minority, in pursuit of their own fringe agendas, which lack wider student and public support”.

After these reactions to Porter’s speech, police took him to the SU at nearby Manchester University. It was later confirmed he received a police escort due to his inflammatory presence. John Lloyd MP condemned the voices of “those who seek to divide our movement”.

Students descended in thousands upon central Manchester’s busy transport network, to the apparent surprise of Greater Manchester Police, who at times seemed unprepared for such spontaneous action, despite a publicised budget of £100,000.

Several dramatic scuffles and street battles took place to the sound of improvised, bike propelled street music, as police, led by Forward Intelligence Teams, attempted to target individuals and deploy ‘kettling’ techniques, to contain the rapidly moving mass of students. However, they were met with determined opposition. Various splinter groups continued to evade police ranks all the way in to central Manchester, while pedestrians and commuters watched on as traffic was brought to a standstill.

Attempts by some protesters to deploy highway obstacles as barricades to quell the police’s rapid advance, were met with what police called “a swift and positive response” leading to accusations by some protestors of “police brutality”. A Warwick second-year student caught in the disturbances, Ashwin Chopra, felt there was “a general feeling of hostily” towards protestors.

These demonstrations in Manchester were a part of a national day of demonstrations which included a march on Parliament in London.