University Tutiton Fees Vote.

In Britain the Parliamentary vote to raise university tuition fess has been passed by 323 for, 302 against. A majority of 21.

The vote has been marked by violent protests outside Parliament. The police began the day by turning away buses of students who were making their way to London to join the protest. This obviously raised the tension and meant that the protest was limited to a little over 3000. As this group entered Parliament Square at around 14:00(GMT) the police put in place containment cordons (A Kettle) which prevented the protesters reaching the agreed end point of Victoria Embankment. This led to the now traditional pushing and shoving as protesters tried to force their way through police lines.

At around 15:00 a group of police officers in full riot gear tried to enter the crowd from Victoria Street. As these police officers were clearly identifiable as coming from Croydon Borough (ZD prefix) the crowd took this as a provocative act and the violence intensified. In response at around 15:20 the police used 15 police on horseback to charge the crowd. This is a dispersal tactic that has not been seen in Britain since the the early 1990's. The reason for this is that since then the police have favoured containment tactics. Using a dispersal tactic in a contained crowd that has nowhere else to go will only lead to injuries and 11 protesters have been hospitalised. Obviously this inflamed the crowd even further and real violence ensued. The police are claiming that three of their officers have been seriously injured including one who received "serious neck injuries" although having seen footage of him being treated by medics the extent of his injuries are being dramatically overstated.

By around 16:00 the situation had calmed as the crowd awaited the vote that came at 17:40. The result of the vote has increased the tension in Parliament Square again and the seriousness of the disorder mean the police are currently using long riot shields in an attempt to tighten the containment. Protesters seem to be trying to break into buildings that surround the square in an attempt to escape the kettle.

At the time of writing the situation is ongoing and is expected to continue long it to the night with reports of protesters regrouping around Trafalgar Square and Victoria railway station.