Wow that is a long eye-witness report. I've been reading about a third in now. And will continue reading. The protest was all about the raising of tuition fees to insane proportions in spite of the promise not to raise them? That's about as much that reaches the dutch newspaper. With a report that there supposedly was some rioting and just a couple of arrests.
Probably 'cause something similar is happening here. But mostly for those who take extra time studying. Because of doing extensive research or something community service related. All plans made by peoplewho themselves took 3 to 4 years extra.
Sorry! I should have edited more tightly, but there are a lot of things which may be minor details, that I still wanted to include. Thankyou for reading (not just this, all of them
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I was there too, I didn't see your or your sign :( If you are stuck in London again, you're welcome to try and contact me and I can offer you a sofa to sleep on.
Text I sent at 2:30 " Lloyd george has joined in, parliament sq is ocupied. Bit of a festival atmosphere"
I got out of Parliament Sq at about 3 the police were not letting anyone in at the trafalgar sq end, but were letting people out.
Hello! good to hear from you. I didn't see *anyone* I knew, despite mounds of them being there. But it was not easy to do a systematic scouring. Thankyou for being there. You didn't have any trouble, I hope? What direction did they let you out from? did they make an actual announcement to the crowd, or just let it go word of mouth? and was that after the horses went in? sorry for all the quizzing, I'm trying to put together some idea of what was going on at other ends, and how it fits in with the story as it is being presented in the papers. It was festive, and that was so surreal; all the smashing and ramming of doors, and people singing and having a jig. Watching the destruction and listening to happy tunes, and thinking 'this is bizarre'.
It is very kind of you to offer, I should make arrangements the next time I'm rabblerousing down south, but my brother now lives in Bethnal Green (apparently) so I will probably sponge off him before bothering decent folk. ;-)
No trouble, just a bit of running, and line dodging when we were coming down from ULU.
I walked up Whitehall towards Trafalgar sq (past the cenotaph) I just walked out, but there were a few students with placards chanting at the police line because they couldn't get down the road to the square. Whitehall was pretty clear except around the subways to Westminster station.
Horses had come in from, I think, Victoria st, when I was still on parliament sq, which was part of my motivation for going.
I had no trouble getting in, but from then on it was hard to move. I never heard any instructions about how to leave. I was stuck down in the corner by the abbey and the Guildhall until the horses came in. I'm a bit unclear on the geography, but it looks like we were right across on opposite sides.
V brave. Makes me feel crap about being stuck in France atm. I'm glad people are actually starting to DO something, instead of just grumbling into their cornflakes as they read the morning papers (i.e. the usual British response). The French couldn't believe we were just sitting back and taking it - they spent my first 2 months here protesting about raising the pensions age by 2 years (which is nothing compared with how far Britiain's age has been raised in the past).
Well peeved with Clegg. Tbh 'peeved' doesn't start to cover it.
Thankyou! Plenty are still grumbling- Mail readers, for instance, only this time they're grumbling at us. :-) I like the French attitude. Or at least, whilst there are problems I have with their current government, I appreciate the up-ness of its people for making it very clear when they don't like something. Perhaps if we can encourage something of that approach here, protests won't be the preserve of violent nongs and baby anarchists, and the police will have to develop a more intelligent solution. Because it'll be *decent folk* marching!
Peeved, yes... I am so angry with him, I could roll him up in a plum pudding like Samuel Whiskers did with Tom Kitten. I tell you!
At the moment the French hate Sarkozy so much that they're ready to make a huge fuss about anything (or nothing). Though they've been quiet for a while - it's nice that the trains/buses/post offices are functioning.
I wish LJ had a 'like' button so that I could fully express my sentiments regarding your Clegg-pudding idea.
They don't like him? Really, that's encouraging. I've little to go on but I had the impression- strikes etc. aside- that he was not too unpopular, if mediocre. (TBH I've wanted to pudding him good, too, since the Roma explusion situation.) I hoped you'd get that- it was one of my favourite stories. Beatrix Potter was dead sarcastic sometimes.
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Probably 'cause something similar is happening here. But mostly for those who take extra time studying. Because of doing extensive research or something community service related. All plans made by peoplewho themselves took 3 to 4 years extra.
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The median wage in the UK is £22,000.
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If you are stuck in London again, you're welcome to try and contact me and I can offer you a sofa to sleep on.
Text I sent at 2:30 " Lloyd george has joined in, parliament sq is ocupied. Bit of a festival atmosphere"
I got out of Parliament Sq at about 3 the police were not letting anyone in at the trafalgar sq end, but were letting people out.
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Thankyou for being there. You didn't have any trouble, I hope?
What direction did they let you out from? did they make an actual announcement to the crowd, or just let it go word of mouth? and was that after the horses went in? sorry for all the quizzing, I'm trying to put together some idea of what was going on at other ends, and how it fits in with the story as it is being presented in the papers.
It was festive, and that was so surreal; all the smashing and ramming of doors, and people singing and having a jig. Watching the destruction and listening to happy tunes, and thinking 'this is bizarre'.
It is very kind of you to offer, I should make arrangements the next time I'm rabblerousing down south, but my brother now lives in Bethnal Green (apparently) so I will probably sponge off him before bothering decent folk. ;-)
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I walked up Whitehall towards Trafalgar sq (past the cenotaph) I just walked out, but there were a few students with placards chanting at the police line because they couldn't get down the road to the square.
Whitehall was pretty clear except around the subways to Westminster station.
Horses had come in from, I think, Victoria st, when I was still on parliament sq, which was part of my motivation for going.
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I'm a bit unclear on the geography, but it looks like we were right across on opposite sides.
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Well peeved with Clegg. Tbh 'peeved' doesn't start to cover it.
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Plenty are still grumbling- Mail readers, for instance, only this time they're grumbling at us. :-)
I like the French attitude. Or at least, whilst there are problems I have with their current government, I appreciate the up-ness of its people for making it very clear when they don't like something. Perhaps if we can encourage something of that approach here, protests won't be the preserve of violent nongs and baby anarchists, and the police will have to develop a more intelligent solution. Because it'll be *decent folk* marching!
Peeved, yes... I am so angry with him, I could roll him up in a plum pudding like Samuel Whiskers did with Tom Kitten. I tell you!
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I wish LJ had a 'like' button so that I could fully express my sentiments regarding your Clegg-pudding idea.
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I hoped you'd get that- it was one of my favourite stories. Beatrix Potter was dead sarcastic sometimes.
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