Thursday, November 25, 2010

Even More Protests!

Every time we see students vandalising police vans and fighting with the Police (safe in the knowledge that ours are not allowed to respond like they would in any other country), more and more people just think:

"Sod them. I don't want to pay more taxes so they can lie around watching daytime TV and talking rubbish."

Some great quotes from students yesterday:

Girl with funny coloured hair: "We deserve the right to be able to get an education for ourselves to our fullest potential!"

Yoof in shell suit: "We voted for Nick Clegg and he's turned round and slammed it in our face!"

And best of all, this tremendous chant from a group seeking to overturn the laws of Physics:

Student Grant: "What do we want?"
Followers/Future shelf stackers: "A future!"

Student Grant: "When do we want it?"
Followers "Now!"

Full credit to the girls who tried to stop the Police van from being trashed though.

ps What is this 'kettling' that we keep hearing about? Is it the same as 'cottaging'?

11 comments:

Don said...

A couple more quotes for you here:

An unemployed 25-year old who took the wheel of the police van said she broke in:
"because I felt like it. I’m supporting the students. There needs to be free education for all."

Or the perhaps rather more perceptive one:
"Some of them were just sixth-form or school students coming down for a free day off. I didn’t want the protest to be labelled as a load of student yobs again."

Anonymous said...

Did anyone see/hear the girl who said "£9,000 a year to go to university? That's three years, that's £21,000"

Need I say more?

Anonymous said...

Kettling is a form of unlawful detention of people who have not been accused, let alone, convicted of any crime. It's got no place in a free democratic country.

Cottaging is a whole different ball game.

Lilyofthefield said...

Fear for the future! I clearly heard some students threatening to take over the Arts Lecture Theatre!
NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Kettling is where you're NOT convicted of any crime, or even tried, or even charged, or even cautioned, or even allowed to see a lawyer, or even arrested, or even warned you could be arrested, or even given any direct instruction by an individual police officer...

But you ARE forcibly, physically prevented from leaving an outdoor area in the middle of winter, prevented from accessing any shelter, water, food or toilet facilities, for periods up to but not limited to ten hours, regardless of your age, regardless of your conduct, and entirely because you were in a particular place at a particular time.

It is a form of indiscriminate collective punishment which I predict will be used for no more than another year or so, because within that time I confidently predict that one of two things will have happened:

1. a young person or elderly person so contained will suffer some medical emergency in the kettled area, and will die or suffer permanent injury as a direct result of not being allowed to leave.
OR
2. a kettled crowd will realise, collectively, that they substantially outnumber the force containing them, and will forcibly exercise their right to leave, killing or seriously injuring at least one of those attempting to contain them.

What happens next, and whether it's better than kettling or worse, will depend on which of the above happens first.

James said...

got to love that the "Anonymous" commenters are against kettling or "containment" as it's normally known.

Would it have been better just to let the violence and vandalism that resulted in the the containment spread and run rampant throughout central London just because some of those there were cold and in the "wrong place at the wrong time" (although you had to be from a different planet not to realise that there was a protest going on).

It can be deemed "Collective punishment" or more realistically "controlled dispersal" it is a simple way of tiring people out. As to the idea that one day a contained group will overrun the police I think you might be a touch ambitious there...

If you went to protest peacefully then it was unfortunate that your day was spoiled by a few amongst you - but maybe you'll vet them better next time - but this is one of the hazards of going to rotest. It will be cold (normally), there will be tension (but not as often as you think) and if people kick off you will be contained... why? Because the police in this country aren't allowed to use baton charges, rubber bullets and water cannon. So... either you stay put for a bit and sorry for the inconvenience or they get medieval on you instead. Your choice

Oh and someone died in the G20 containment and the police were the only ones attempting CPR... the protestors tried to attack the emergency services helping them.

This is me - picture too so all replies welcomed but please think before you go off on a rant.

x

Defence Brief said...

I did support the students but every time they riot I find it harder to care about them.

I do want to know why they seem to think it's okay to go protesting wearing (what I hope and assume to be) their dirtiest and most ill-fitting clothes? Most of the students I've seen on tv seem to be unwashed and in some sort of filthy old duffle coat that makes them look a bit like a football commentator.

James, apart from the part about vetting demonstrators (I'm not sure you can vet people to take part in a public demonstration) I agree with you. The police tried the soft approach and it led to people nearly being killed and office buildings being trashed. Only a simpleton could have thought that the second demonstration wasn't going to go the same way - especially given the number of very immature twats on the tv saying they approved of the violence and that it was the only way to get their voice heard.

Defence Brief said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I was the first anonymous. If the choice is between violence and vandalism or forcibly preventing innocent from people going about their lawful business, I'll go for the violence and vandalism every time. If the police need to get rough with the perpetrators so be it, and the CJ system should throw the book at them as hard as possible.

Policing in this country is supposed to be by consent, but a force with such a cavalier attitude to the presumption of innocence doesn't have mine.

This isn't a touchy feely shades of grey thing, it's right against wrong. Kettling is wrong.

Anonymous said...

You all misunderstand.
This whole business came from an incident back in 2002 in London, when the police commander, tired of waiting for the crowd to do something, said to his Sergeant "I'm bored, put the kettle on there's a good chap". Sadly this was overheard incorrectly by a Guardian journalist and another urban myth was born. I know because I was there.
As for the legality of containment tactics, people are 'detained to prevent a breach of the peace' which, although taking the piss a little, is still legal.

Louisjohn said...

Kettling is a plumbing term when your central heating system is overheating. Otherwise must be a police injoke.