the students, many bussed in from around the country, assembled this morning at temple park on the embankment, and then shortly after midday they headed west. despite the fact that parliament square was not on the route, the palace of westminster was protected by double fencing boxes weighed down by sandbags, and hundreds of police mounted an operation which included very visible horses, to discourage and prevent any students from diverting to whitehall or parliament square.
the same box fences barred the way at westminster bridge road, and as the students marched past, several hundred broke out of the cordon and ran straight for the barricades where a few minor scuffles ensued. some police drew batons as protestors tried to dismantle one of the fences, and other lines of police briefly pushed protestors back.
the huge number of NUS stewards were anxiously instructing students to keep moving and to walk over westminster bridge away from the place where all the decisions about EMA, tuition fees, and education cuts, have been made. they wanted their peers to walk through the pouring rain to a rally a couple of miles away in a muddy park. many, unsurprisingly, didn't want to go.
there was a sit-down on the bridge, a samba band started playing on the westminster side, and progress was very very slow.
NUS march - report and pics (#demo2012) - UK Indymedia
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